Left 5 Dead
by HeloHaloME
Summary: I am a soldier for the national guard. One day my unit and I fought these zombie-like creatures. It is here I would meet 4 survivors who would change my life. Rated T for swearing humor in 2 and beyond romance chap. 2 and beyond.
1. Chapter 1: Zulu Company Overrun

I looked around me. The city of Fairfield, MY HOME was falling apart. My name is Tony Franks. It has been almost two weeks since my unit in the National Guard Zulu Company was deployed to combat some extensive riots in Fairfield. Almost immediately we were attacked by unknown hostiles. These zombie-like creatures were able to rip our men to shreds.

I'll never forget Private Howard R. Reel investigated a corner near the hospital which we made into a base. He heard growling. He turned the flashlight on his M4A1 and investigated. This hooded figure leapt at him. He squeezed two rounds off before his rifle jammed. The figure pinned him to the ground and began clawing him, he screamed for help. Even as an Army Ranger he could not push off the figure. His Lamelar battle armor was hit twice before it became a cumbersome piece of cloth. I ran over. I was too late. The figure's claws sliced through Reel's gut like a chainsaw through tissue paper. I shoved off the private. I fired my M-4 four times and all for hit the figure hit them in the head. The figured bled for a few seconds but then sputtered and died. I kneeled over the private. I kept my hand over the newly opened hole in his stomach. His stomach felt like a slimy football. I yelled for a medic. When the medic got there, His name and rank was Corporal John Wallace, he stared with a grimace and clearly tried to hold back the vomit.

"There is nothing a field medic like myself can do. Luckily for him we're outside a hospital. Take this bandage and wrap it around the torso near the stomach like your taping a package. Make sure it is secure for we don't want his insides to ooze out," He spoke. I did as I was told and handed him over to a surgeon. That was the last I saw of him. I walked outside. There was a scream and hundreds of crazy rioters sprinted towards us.

Even with all our training the rioters were just too many. We all exchanged shots against the horde. A radio beeped on my headset, which meant all the soldiers were about to receive a message. There was a buzzing and a voice sounded on the headset. _This is Colonel George Sanders. All companies fall back! However, alpha company lock the doors and hold the inside of the hospital at all costs! If survivors are able to reach you, they will be able to travel through the sewers. Zulu, load up the Humvees and head south east to apartments. From here you shall have a good Observation of the surrounding city. Companies, DEPLOY! _I ran for the Humvee I was designated toride in. I boarded it with four other soldiers all of them, my squadmates.

I cocked the .50 caliber machinegun on top of the Humvee. I fired a short burst at the rioters who I now deemed zombies which tore them literally to pieces. There was large vibration and a large inhuman beast followed us. I fired the same three second burst I used on the other zombies. All it did was yell. It picked up a large piece of asphalt off the road. The beast then chucked it at us. It hit the humvee's left corner wheel and spun us out. Humvees can withstand bullets and on a few occasions RPG's but a slab of asphalt which stopped the wheel from spinning sent us spinning out of control. We hit a curb and flipped through the air. We landed in an apartment building. I had luckily ducked. As we went through a wall we landed normal. I stayed on the .50. I fired the entire box magazine into the behemoth. It eventually went down. I could not believe what had just happened. It took all 100 .50 caliber rounds which can tear a car or APC to pieces to finally take down the monster.

I scoured the humvee. The two soldiers in the front were dead. I removed their dogtags for identification and thought _Sergeant Jacob Rodds and Private First Class David Johnson, you have done your duty, your war has ended. Please, rest in peace. _One of the soldiers in the back was unconcious but luckily, he was against a door which could never be moved, and if I locked the door behind me he would be safe with his years worth of food and water. The last soldier, a man named Sergeant Matthew Reynolds had lost his mind.

"I am getting the hell outta here!" He yelled. He ran out of the humvee with only his 9 mm pistol. I never saw him again. I grabbed a week's worth of food and grabbed my M-4 with ten magazines and three frag grenades for dicey situations I walked up the stairs and opened a door. I could hear something going on. I stayed at the far right of the building. I stayed out of view until I saw a black, what appeared to be manager leap from the fire escape. He was followed by a biker. There was crashing, evidence of something big, probably another behemoth climbing up the escape. An old man wearing a green beret scrambled up, this was followed a yell.

"Francis!" a woman in what sounded like her 20's yelled. The biker held out his hand and caught something. He and the old man dragged up a 20 year old girl. She wore a red hoodie. They exchanged conversation when I stepped out out of the darkness.

"Having some difficulty?" I asked jokingly.

"Who the hell are you?!?" The biker asked.

Disclaimer: I don't own left 4 dead

Please Review!


	2. Chapter 2: The Smoking 45

"My name's Major Tony Franks, Zulu Company Alpha squad. I have been recently deployed to escort survivors to the nearest evac point," I explained.

"Finally!" The girl exclaimed, "Someone who knows what he is doing and where he's going!"

"Hey!" The black man exclaimed, "What about me?"

"Well I gotta hand it to you, you did invent the pipe bomb," they girl said.

"I got better explosives," I took my grenades out of my grenade pouch, everyone marveled at the sight of these high powered explosives, "They're M67 frag grenades." I then pulled out two cylinders, "MK3A2 concussion grenades. They are highly explosive and should be used when there are no other options."

The old man walked up to me, "Is that an M4?" The old man asked.

"No, better, and M4A3 with a M203 grenade launcher which has..." I rummaged through my pocket, "One...Two...Three... Five Grenades. By the way, WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?"

"I am Zoey, a college student from Fairfield Tech. Good to meet you," The girl said.

"I'm Louis, I was a manager of a company but now I want to GRAB DEM PEELS!"

"Here Louis, have these pain pills," The old man said, "By the way, I am Bill, former Vietnam War veteran and holder of the rank LTC."

"And I'm Francis, don't get on my badside partner. I was a hardcore biker. Until I left my girlfriends house for this wasteland of zombies. Now I am a hardcore man hanging out with these losers,"

"You ain't so hardcore," Louis said.

"Yes I am," Francis replied. At this time Zoey took a pack off ketchup and squirted it on her shin. He clutched down at it.

"OH MY GOD MY LEG!" Zoey clutched her leg, hiding any evidence of a fake injury.

"One of those things better not have bitten you!" Francis grabbed a first-aid kit. "It is all right, you are going to be okay!" He said in a soothing tone. He pulled a bandage off.

"HA! Got you the Softy biker!" Zoey then yelled.

"Come on people we have got to move!" I yelled. Francis grabbed a shotgun, everyone else except myself grabbed an Uzi. I took point. I recalled my training at West Point Military Institution as I walked through the building. I remember what my D.I. Taught me. _In close quarters combat, the one who fires the first shot wins, in hand to hand combat, the one who hits the last time wins. Try to accomplish both._

I used the butt of my weapon as a club against the zombies. Occasionally I would fire a burst of rounds and kill a zombie but afterwards I did the other thing they taught us. _Reload every chance you get. If you go into battle with half a clip the only asshole it's gonna kill is you. _Finally we reached the bottom and I saw my humvee. It was perfectly wedged in between the walls. I grabbed some extra ammo from the driver seat. I reloaded and walked outside. Everyone trailed behind me. I heard crying. I turned on the flashlight attached to my rifle.

As an Army Ranger and West Point grad, I was trained to notice any possible points of ambush and any differences in the enviroment. I noticed a figure who was sitting in a relaxed form with red eyes. Something in my gut told me to stay away. A thought appeared in my head to turn off the flashlight. She let out a groan. I stepped back, you never know what a cornered beast may do. Francis and his low IQ came up. I socked him in the arm, "light off!" I whispered to him.

"Oh you SOB a witch!" Francis aimed for its head with his shotgun.

"No! A shot from this distance will NOT kill it, just you! Lemme do it," I ordered. I loaded my M203 withh a grenade, this ought to do it.

"Quit tryin' to show off for Zoey, she's my woman!" Francis whispered to me, "Austa Lavista baby!" Francis yelled. He fired off one shell. Due to the distance between us and the witch, maybe one in the original buckshot slugs hit. Clearly, this witch was anfy. She let out an inhuman scream. She rose to her feet and let out another scream. Her eyes were fire red. She then extended her claws a good four inches and ran for Francis. The claws easily tore through his flesh. They left a nasty cut a foot long which spanned his lower arm. No blood dripped though. The second cut was even worse, the witch clawed a mark through the top of his chest it hit the aorta and caused a minor breach in it. I fired 25 rounds, all headshots. She finally went down. Francis held a colt .45 handgun in a sort of last stand.

"Quit yer' squirmin' this first-aid kit ought to do it,' I said. I took a piece of medical tape off the roll. I applied it across the arm. It stopped the infection from spreading. Next I gave him pain pills because, well how do I say this? Aorta holes hurt! I applied anti-biotics to more tape and pushed against the cut along the throat. The bleeding soon stopped and I was able to dress everything properly. Unfortuanately, he was too wounded to walk so I ended up carrying to the fun time.

We came to the street and I saw literally hundreds of zombies. I saw on a sign that was spray painted that the next safe house was close. I cocked my M9, this was about to get exciting. I took off, dead sprint with all my memories of West Point pushing me harder. My D.I. Saying "Come on Franks! Put some ass into it. You better clear that hurdle or else you will do the course again," I remember being so tired that my adrenaline was rushing and I cleared the hurdle with no difficulties. It was at this time I realized the hurdle was a car with a car alarm. _What the hell. I mean seriously who leaves their car alarm incase it gets stolen in a Zombie Genocide? _I thought. _BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP! _The alarm went off. There was a scream of hundreds of more zombies. With thirty bullets and no chance to use my M4 I took off full speed down the stairs, I even jumped but I still don't know how. With the other survivors in no where insight I entered the safe room. I lay Francis on a sleeping bag near a table and grabbed my M4 and went up stairs.

At the top of the stairs I saw three things going on. Bill has been pounced by a hunter too dumb enough to use its claws, Zoey being hung on a building by a smoker, and Louis doing some weird pill dance in front of a medicine cabinet. Louis needed help from a doctor for clearly a mental defency, Bill was fine for now, so I set my sights for Zoey who's face was starting to turn purple. I looked up the building and saw the smoker trying to pull her up. The pulling motion seemed like a stage during Louis's pill dance. I squeezed off one burst of M4 rounds. The three rounds fired were all critical hits. The first, severed the tongue, the second hit an eye, while the third went down its throat. There was a puff of smoke. Zoey started to fall a good 20 feet to the ground. I made a dive.

"Ow! Could you lose some weight? I am trying to save your life so don't crush me!" I yelled jokingly. I always joked to break the tension. She let loose a small chuckle then got off after landing on my back. She picked up her Colt .45 and followed me. Next I went to Bill. Thank god, my father was a marine and my mother a cop. My shot couldn't have been more precise. Just as the hunter pulled back its claw to start tearing Bill to pieces, I hit the bone that was the only thing connectingg the hand to the arm. The skin flew off and the hand held their in a useless limp. I kicked it square in the back. It flew off of Bill and hit the wall behind them. It turned to me, its eyes a fiery red. "GO!" I yelled to Bill and Zoey, "Go get Louis out of his trance then fall back to the safe room. If i'm still alive (Which I begged to be) I'll meet you in the safe room!" I ordered. The hunter out of its daze set its sights on me. When he tried to pounce I kicked again. This was no longer a rescue and a duty, it was survival. It seemed just like a West Point drill only more terrifying.

Time seemed to slow down. I attempted to melee with my weapon. He grabbed it. It was now a fight for the weapon. If I won, I could fire off the shots needed to kill it, but if he won, he wouldn't need it, he would claw me to death instead. We both held onto the weapon and held it in between our heads and just below our arms reach. It appeared to have a smile on its face. It swept me down with his legs. I grabbed my survival knife out of its hollister. As it came to pounce my feet blocked the pin. I stabbed as hard as I could with my knife. It landed on its left shoulder. I gave a large kick while I was on the ground which sent it backwards. Now my weapon lying on the ground was unimportant. I lunged at it. His claw met with my knife. It then became a sort of knife fight. He swung his claws like a dagger and I blocked and countered with my knife. He swung for my head. I ducked and stabbed him in the arm. He clutched it then leapt into the sky when he came down I held my knife in just the right position. It stabbed through his lower jaw it let out a scream then fell limply to the ground. I spit on his pathetic head. I ran back to the safehouse. Before though, I grabbed my M4 and attached the knife to it creating a bayonet. I then proceeded to the safe house. I ran all the way to the steps. Then Freedom was in sight! I started to run for the room when I heard a shriek. A hunter pinned me.

"For Christ's sake!" I yelled, "What does it take to kill you?" The hunter had the same jaw cut, limp hand and evil grin as before. It raised up its claw for revenge. I closed my eyes and thought of home. My peaceful little apartment on 801 Wallnut Street. My parents were visiting since I was only 22 and just graduated from West Point. I was barely a lieutenant back then when now I am a Major. I got a phone call saying I was deployed to New York to combat some rioters. During this time span I earned all my promotions for heroism. When I finally returned home my parents had boarded up the apartment and my Beagle, Yax, was howling away at the door. We escaped into the street when the barricade at a window began to give way... A shot rang out from the darkness. When I opened my eyes Francis was on the table grinning, a smoking .45 in his hand.

"Merry Christmas," He said.

I rushed inside the room. I locked the door behind me. Inside, Zoey was performing medical assistance to Francis with the medical equipment in there. Bill was leaning against a wall lighting his cigarette. I walked into the room and looked in the mirror. My once woodland camouflaged uniform now had a splatter of sickly red blood on it. My brown hair, head a crusty layer of sweat and blood even though I was wearing a helmet. Zoey leaned over next to me.

"You look like a mess," she said.

"Thanks, guys like me love to hear you say that," I responded sarcastically.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that!" she said as if she thought she hurt my feelings.

"Take it easy, you didn't do anything wrong. Anyway, where's the food?" I asked, honestly after fighting hordes of zombies I was starting to get hungry.

"Here!" She tossed me her bag.

"Woohoo, canned beef and brusselsprouts," Francis said sarcastically.

"Hey, I am in the Army, this two inch by four inch can contains an entire feast for me. If you don't want it, I'll eat it," I said.

"NO MY YUM YUMS!" Francis yelled.

"Sorry, he's always cranky after having to take medication," Zoey explained. The group huddled around in a circle. When all the food was handed out, I ate my whole meal. After dinner, Zoey reached into her backpack and pulled out a deck of cards. She dealed them first. We were playing Poker My first hand was horrible. I would end up losing all but my second hand. Bill always folded and Louis never folded for a fear that if he lost he would lose al his pills which was now crammed in his pocket. I thought this as sort of ironic. We played for a total of ten hands until we called it quits.

I looked out the window with my flashlight off. There weren't many zombies out there. I started to wonder if maybe now was a good time to leave...

"Looks like we got a fun time ahead of us," A voice said. I spun around quickly, almost hitting my head on a metal pipe extruding from the wall. It was Zoey. The lights were dimmed while Francis tried to sleep. So I didn't get a good look at her. From what I could see, Bill and Louis were still walking around while Francis tried to sleep. Serves him right. If you're going to cheat at Poker, don't use five aces.

"Why did you sneak up behind me like that?" I asked a little startled.

"Cos'," she said. Yep, she clearly had some teenager left in her.

"Won't you ever grow up?" I asked jokingly. She took it the wrong way.

"I'm sorry I'm too fat, and immature for the big strong Army guy," she said, the end where she said 'strong' and beyond that, sarcastically.

"Hey," I responded, "No offense lady, but it's true!" I explained. I didn't appear to say what I should've said.

"Why did I have to stand up for you at the begininng?" Zoey asked a little louder then a whisper.

"What was that?" I responded.

"In the beginning, Bill, Francis and Louis said bringing along another was going to be too much to handle. But I stood up for you saying that we could use another gun especially one in the hands of a strong, well-trained soldier. Also you were an officer! Do you know how much we really needed a capable leader. But now I know. I shouldn't have stood up for such a large jerk!" She said with pain in her voice. "And besides, after today, I kind of...," There was a long pause, "liked you," She finished. "You were _so _charismatic and _so _funny, and _so _strong. I knew from the first time I met you that you would be able to save us from this zombie armaggedon. And for that I now know, I was wrong. And that although you may save us, you deserve to fall victim to the plague that wrecks the world around us. And no matter what, I do not feel that your life is such...," another pause, "Necessity," she concluded. She started to walk away.

"Do you really mean what you just said?" I asked. She turned back around. A lone tear rolled down her cheek.

"Yes, I am not a liar!" She spoke.

"I wanted to ask you something," I spoke, I don't know why I said it, it just came out, "What is your history?" I asked.

"Do you really want to hear it?" She asked, "I doubt you will, you're probably just joking around again."

"First rule of West Point, cadets will not lie, cheat, or steal, and will not tolerate those who do. This is no exception to those rules," I explained.

"Alright," She said, "You might want to sit down for this, it's kinda long." I grabbed a chair nearby and promptly sat down on it.

"Go for it," I said.

"Alright where do you want me to begin?"

"How about, right before the zombie invasion started to affect you?" I asked.

"Okay. Well, I just got back to my dorm after taking my medical class at Fairfield Tech. My two roomates, Sophia and Mary were watching T.V. and Mary was hugging a pillow. The T.V. Was on channel four local news. I still remember them saying 'Zoe sit down here and watch this!' I looked at the sound and picture box. On the screen was a news team on top of appartments near the subway, their cameras were aimed at the subway. Dozens of the creatures we have just experianced were littering the area. On the camera the reporter spoke 'Lately the Super Rabies epidemic has spread into our favorite city Fairfield. If you are watching this listen to what here Mr. Tony Franks has to say.' This is where you come in. you said 'If you are still alive and have guns we advice you to get to the nearest evac point. There are three. The high school, the recreation facility, and Mercy Hospital. These are all held by National Guard soldiers.' It was at this time, Mary looked at me and said 'Man, that Franks guy is kinda cute. I wish I could meet him, he looks only 20.' (I as in Tony, grinned when Zoey told me this) Wipe that goofy grin off your face! Anyway, there was a knock at the door well, more of a clawing noise. This physicotic man burst through the wooden door. He immediately claws Mary on the head, the blow killed her. I grabbed my father's Colt .45 from under my pillow. I fired two shots and killed the man. I grabbed Sophia's hand which was frozen with fear and took off. We raced down the stairs. We came to a balcony over looking the gym. We looked down and saw hundreds of zombie like people like the ones we saw before. I decided against shooting. I had only that magazine so firing would be useless and probably do more harm than good. We started walking a narrow causeway that would take us to the other side of the gym which was a rooftop exit. While walking, Sophia got tackled by a hooded figure, she let a scream and disappeared over the rail. I wanted to help her so bad but I knew that would only get me killed too. It was here that I met Louis who had crossed over from a nearby building, over time we met the other survivors. I'll tell you more later if I feel like it," she told, "What's your story?" she asked.

"There's not much to tell," I said. In truth, there wasn't.

"So what about military school?" she asked.

"What West Point?" I asked.

"Yes," she replied.

"It's a military _institution_!" I replied.

"Don't correct me," She said.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, I was truly confused.

"You always correct me whenever I mispronounce something?"

"No I don't!" I nagged.

"We had a moment and you just blew it!"

"What did I do?"

"YOU CORRECTED ME!" Zoey yelled, a zombie outside turned around, Francis woke up, Bill turned around, Louis jumped, turned around, caught his pills as they fell from his pocket and then walked away.

"What are doin' to my lady?" Francis asked. He moved toward Zoey and myself. He put his hand on her shoulder. She took it off and nudged him away.

"Leave me alone Francis," she said annoyed, "This is between Me and Tony."

"What's wrong? I'm too much of a man for ya?" Francis asked. He put his hand on her shoulder again.

"I'm serious Francis LEAVE ME ALONE!" She said annoyed now.

"Aww, how cute!" Francis said, "The Princess is getting angry!"

"PRINCESS? JUST LEAVE ME ALONE DARN YOU!"

"Trouble in paradise?" Francis annoyingly said.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"Or else what?" Francis asked, raising his voice.

"You heard the lady, leave Zoey alone," I said, it just sort of popped out of my mouth. Francis rose above me making me feel insignificant. However, I had two things he didn't on his side: Endurance, and tons of the best physical training few Americans ever will endure especially in this lazy generation.

"What did you say you little Army SOB?" Francis asked threatingly.

"You heard me," I said, "LEAVE HER ALONE," I said in a low tone.

"You wanna fight?" Francis threatened.

"STOP FIGHTING!" Bill said, "I saw less fighting between Vietcong and G.I.s!"

"Yeah, you don't have to defend me," Zoey added. She walked over to me, turned towards Francis and placed her hands on her hips. "Please go back to sleep Francis," Zoey pleaded, "Please, for me?" she added.

"Fine," Francis said, he walked over towards me, "This isn't over!" he pointed his finger in my face. I stood there and did nothing.

"Go on you guys, go back to sleep," Zoey said, "Can I talk to you?" she asked me.

"I should get to bed...," I started.

She seemed completely oblivious to what I just said, "why did you do what you just did?" She asked.

"I had to stand up for you after what you did for me," I explained. Her eyes had that same sparkle they did before the argument between us.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I just... felt like I had to do it."

"Aww, you like me," She said.

"NO, not that way," I replied.

She looked down now, her blue eyes losing their sparkle, "Oh," she said.

"Well, I'm sorry but as of now I feel nothing," I said. She looked away. "No it's okay, I like you, just as a friend though," I said. She seemed to perk up.

"Good night," I said

"Good night, _my sweet,_" she said. I barely heard 'my sweet' though. Maybe I just imagined it.

Please Review so I can make your reading experience more enjoyable!


	3. Chapter 3: a Voice from the Darkness

Chap 3: A voice in the darkness

It was dawn, and I was pretty sure I was the only one awake. I looked outside. The sun was just starting to peek over a building. There were no zombies in sight. I walked back into the middle of the room. I zipped my sleeping bag shut. I saw that Francis was asleep on the table with a blue blanket on top of him. He was sucking his thumb. I took my picture phone out from my pocket. It was 6:00 A.M. I took a picture. This would be fun to use later.

I walked into the bathroom and washed my face with the sink. I grabbed a washcloth and a comb that was nearby. I had to clean my weapons. The last thing I needed was my gun to jam while a hunter attempted to pounce. Go the way of Reel. I grabbed my M4 which had somehow gotten by Zoey during the night. Now her arms were over it like she was cradling it. Some of the blood and grime was now on her sleeve. I held her arm up and pulled the M4 out and swapped the pillow for the empty space I was holding her arm above. I looked at her. Her eyes started to open.

"You're finally awake," I said. She opened her eyes all the way.

"Riddle me Timbers," She said. She must be sleep talking. I chuckled a little bit. "Why you steal meh fruit loop?" She asked. I thought, maybe I can have some fun with this!

"You're a very little girl aren't you?" I asked.

"Weeeee!" she said, "The fields of Kansas are fuzzy!"

"Sing us your song Zoey," I said. This was starting to get fun.

"I'm as corny as Kansas in August, I'm as normal as blueberry pie! Tell me illusion, this is no illusion I'm in love with a wonderful guy!" She sang.

"Now when I snap my fingers, wake up, Okay?"

"Otay," she said. I snapped my fingers. Her head shook and she uttered a moan. "Why am I standing up?" She asked.

"Oh, I was havin some fun with ya," I said. Her eyes widened, "NO NOT IN THAT WAY!" I said. She uttered a sign of relief. "I know you want a piece of this though," I joked. She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, when will you ever lose your boyish charm?" She said sarcastically. I went back to cleaning my gun. Zoey came in, "You want me to do that?" She asked.

"No thanks, I'm fine," I replied. She swiped the weapon from me. What? I broke the Boy Scout Motto: Be Prepared.

"Well, I'm a woman, cleaning is in my blood," She said.

"I heard you talk to Bill, you came from a wealthy family wouldn't you have hired a maid or maiden?" I asked.

"Damn, don't be so smart! It makes me feel inferior!" She said.

"That shouldn't be the only thing," I said. She chuckled a bit.

"LIES!" she announced. After a good fifteen minutes she came out. With my assault rifle in hand. I waited. Somewhere along 6:45 Louis had a nightmare about someone taking his pills and woke up. At 7:00 Bill woke up.

"Everyone come over here!" I whispered, I took out my picture phone, "Here's a picture of our Hardcore Biker!" Everyone looked at my phone. I brought up the picture of Francis sucking his thumb. Everyone instantly laughed. This woke Francis up.

"Why's everyone laughing?" Francis asked. He walked over towards us. He looked on my phone. "What the?" Francis asked, "OH MY GOD YOU GUYS ARE TERRIBLE!" He yelled. He through down the phone. It clattered to the ground. Good thing I installed Titanium Alloy metal with Bulletproof glass on it. "Come on," he said, "Let's go kill us some vampires!"

"They're zombies you idiot!" Bill told him. I opened the door. I had my M4, Francis carried a shotgun and the other three, Uzi's again. Almost immediately after I stepped out I felt something wrap around me. It started squeezing the air out of me. I felt my feet leave the ground and I landed on my back. I tried to pull this tongue-like thing off me. It started pulling me towards something in the shadows. This being appeared out of darkness. It looked like any other zombie except it wore a plad shirt with jeans, it had several 'bubble' protrusions stuck out. I let out a cry for help. I don't think they heard it.

"CAN YOU HEAR ME? I NEED SOME HELP!" I screamed. The darkness had a voice. It was faint and seemed far away, but I definitely heard it.

"who's... who's that?" a faint woman's voice said from the darkness. It was Zoey.

"GOD DAMNIT SHOOT THIS F(&%!N' SMOKER!" I yelled. Very few times did I drop the F-bomb but when that smoker's claws started clawing my back, that was the last straw. A few pistol rounds rang out. I felt a burning sensation in my arm.

"YOU MISSED!" I yelled. Now I know what it feels like to be shot. A burning feeling gripped my arm and back where the smoker is clawing me. I could feel the blood trickle on my skin. Pain arched on my arm. "SHOOT FOR CHRIST'S SAKE SHOOT!" I yelled, more bullets. I finally heard the great noise of a sloosh. A headshot. The tongue let go of me, the smoker staggered headless for a few seconds but then toppled sideways. A woman ran from the darkness. I could hear the plump-plump of her feet against the cool metal of the over-sized air vent. Zoey was moving fast towards me. I staggered towards her. I looked down at my leg. A bullet hole was in it just above the knee. She started talking. The pain was so intense! My hearing started to null. I felt like I was going to die. My vision began to darken. The last words I heard were as quiet as a whisper which said, "BILL! GET THE F(%K OVER HERE! WE HAVE A MAN DOWN!" I heard footsteps trailing away. I could feel the blood start to spurt from my knee. I collapsed from the tremendous stress on my knees. The last thought was, why couldn't this have been Francis.

I entered a dreamlike realm. There's this place I go in my mind whenever I need to think. My parents are there, both in uniform. My sister Nita who is now a banker, my younger brother who's still in high school named Gerald is there too, Finally my beagle Yax and my old dog from 1990, a golden retriever named Creams are there panting. Bill, Louis, Zoey, are all to the left of them. Francis is impaled on a giant piece of macaroni nearby. He is also shot four times by an armor piercing rifle. Everyone is staring at me smiling.

"Lei mi ama ama l'amo?" Zoey asked. I knew what this meant because I had taken Italian in high school.

Now my dad spoke, "Guter Job-Sohn bin ich auf Sie stolz," My father spoke, I have never taken German before so this sounded different to me.

Now my mother spoke, "Usted es el soldado que necesitamos," She said in Spanish. All eyes turned to Louis when he said, "Prindeti-le pastile!" Now this was either in Serbian, Turkish or Romanian I did not know. I started to notice a pattern, Everyone spoke of encouragement or hope, except Louis in the tongue of countries I hoped to visit some day. Then everyone spoke together. Even Francis impaled on the macaroni spoke. It was just a whisper at first but then it rose into a shout all in english, "get up Tony get up," they got louder, now to normal tone, "get up Tony get up," Now to a loud shout, "GET UP MAJOR TONY FRANKS, MOVE IT!"

I opened my eyes, I was still in the air vent. Except this time everyone was around me. Louis was sending in wave after wave of pain pills. I coughed . There was something slimy in my throat. Coughing again I sputtered "Gwut biz dis?" I asked. Even I don't know what I said, but I knew the question all the same. One of the shadows nearby came this way.

"He's awake!" a voice said. It was craggily and coarse and had the victory of many battles but few wars behind it. From what I could make out, he wore green and appeared to be one of the people from my dream. It was Bill. There was was a loud clattering of feet that was audible from across the vent. I blinked heavily. I tried to stand, a shot of pain rippled through my leg. I fell back down.

"Woah there kid, don't try to stand until Zoey heals you," Bill said.

"As long as she doesn't shoot me," I said. After all she had the worst aim. Zoey arrived a few seconds later. She was carrying a first-aid kit.

"Good God what happened to you?" She asked.

"Of all people you should know, it's half your fault," I responded.

"Hey I shot at the Smoker after all!"

"You missed the smoker!"

"I heard him scream though,"

"THAT WAS ME!" I screamed. I then coughed. I am in no condition for loud or vigorous movement.

"Oh, well in that case sor-ry," She responded.

"Break it up you two! Tony, she just saved you from being strangled to death. Zoey, you freakin shot HIM there are bullet holes in him," Bill said.

"No there isn't," She back sassed.

"Look!" Bill pointed to the bullet holes lining my body.

"Those could have been by anyone," Zoey replied sassily.

"WHO ELSE IS THERE OUT HERE?" I asked.

"How do you know?" Zoey asked.

"Screw this," I said. This was really starting to get old, "Just heal me."

"Why should I?" She asked. What did I do that was so irritating?

"BECAUSE HE'S DYING! Now come on, we can argue later," Louis said. Everyone looked at eachother. I suddenly spoke up, "Whoa Louis you just talked!"

"What else can you do?" Zoey asked. We were all in shock. This was the tenth sentence he said without saying pills at least once.

"Can you heal me now?" I asked.

"I don't see why not," Zoey responded. What the heck happened to old Zoey from five minutes ago? Ms. Demon Girl. She stuck some type of tree sap into the bullet holes and open bandage wounds. I cringed when the wounds started burning. At least this meant I was being healed. Zoey then took Medical Tape and wound it around my wounds: Around both legs at the knee, My torso, and my shoulder. The sap thing started to work. I wobbled a bit, but with help I stood back on my feet.

"You dropped this," She handed me my M4. I snatched it and examined it. Miraculously it was in perfect condition without the occasional blood splatter. I stepped out of the vent. I heard a small snap as my leg fit itself into the correct position. There were dead bodies everywhere. Certain areas had collapsed or are burning. It was a horrific sight. No matter how many wars, how many kills, how many of your comrades falling can prepare you for this. Slumped against the wall were 20 to 30 bodies. There were men, and women, and police, and soldiers, and children too. They had been a feasting ground for the flesh eaters. There was one child away from the group. She was slumped against the wall, a green smog covered her body. She clutched a teddy bear in her arms. A bible was on her left. I started to walk on.

"the lord is my shepherd and I am his sheep," A voice whispered out of the darkness. I turned to the group.

"Was that you any of you?" I asked. They all shrugged their shoulders.

"the lord is my shepherd and I am his sheep," the voice whispered again. I turned to the group again, they shrugged their shoulders and all had confused looks on their faces.

"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. Thou saith the Lord. And thou who believes in the Almighty shall forever drink the waters of live," a voice whispered again. There was now crying. Instinct took over and our lights went off. I noticed a form shake slowly back and forth in the dark wall of the dead innocents. I turned on my light. Something isn't right. I went over to the little girl I saw earlier. I grabbed her arm and pulled it towards me it shrieked. Well, this kid was alive, question was: Was she living or Undead. I grabbed and pulled it again, I held my hand up to prevent our group from firing.

It shrieked, I turned the figure around. It was a seven year old girl. She had green eyes which was refreshing compared to the empty orange stares the undead gave off.

"Um, guys? Come check this out," I ordered to the group. They walked over towards me.

"What the Hell?" Zoey asked, "A perfectly healthy human girl?"

"I wonder if she likes pills?" Louis asked.

"What's your name?" Bill asked. The girl stayed silent. I thought, Creepy. The girl pointed to the shadows.

"Them," she said. I was confused, I turned around to come face to face with a hunter. A grin on its face and cut marks lined the jaw. It was that same frickin' hunter from a day before. I kicked it in the shin. I then drew my M9 and shot it in the head six times. YOU BETTER BE DEAD THIS TIME YOU IMMORTAL HUNTER! I prayed it was finally dead. I carried the girl on my shoulders. We walked until we reached a table with better weapons, and ammo. I stuck with my M4, however I did pick up a colt .45 for a second pistol. Bill picked up the M-16, Francis picked up an automatic shotgun, Zoey picked up a hunting rifle with a scope. And finally, Louis picked up ammo for his Uzi. The girl sent out a short scream, "Erp!" A shockwave echoed through my head. Instantly a zombie which showed up in front of me died. I don't know what happened, it's head just spontaneously exploded. There was a rumble on the ground. I heard a large roar. This giant muscled zombie thing took and ripped a part of the subway's doors completely off, it chucked it at our group. It hit Bill who fell backwards. I gave the girl to Zoey who continued pulling off head shots. I ran over to Bill. I touched his neck; the old man was dead.

I pulled what little was left of my sanity together. I threw my concussion grenade at the thing which seemed like the zombiefied version of a tank, minus the turret and guns but instead massive muscles. The grenade hit it in the chest and took an arm off, but it kept coming. Running straight for us. We took off running. My weapon clicked empty, I knew I should've reloaded earlier. The tank dove and did an uppercut. Francis flew up and hit the ceiling. When his body hit the ground, there was a sickening crack. His body lie limp against the ground. I didn't think this would happen, but I felt absolutely horrible. I lost it. I ran AT the tank. I knew death was certain but I didn't care. When all is lost and death is certain, why pray for a miracle?

The impossible occurred. An earbleeding screech was heard. "ERP!" it screeched. The tank then fell over dead. Its head was completely gone. I walked up to where Francis lie. A pool of blood surrounded him and where he lie.

"Oh, Francis!" Zoey whimpered, "Oh God no." I walked over to her. She was now kneeling on the ground near the body. Louis was looking at the ground. The little girl stared blankly into space kicking her feet against the railroad tracks. I stood above Zoey.

"Come on Zoey," I said reassuringly. "We will get through this. Look at me," I said. She shook her head. She stared at the body, refusing to make eye contact with me. "Come on, we can't stay here. Look at me," I said again. She barely looked at me, a lone tear rolled down her cheek. I reached out, she grabbed my hand and I pulled her up. Her eyes had a sense of pain and sadness behind them. We had to open the door and fight the horde but again the girl shrieked, this time all the zombies died. We walked out of the building with no contact. Zoey trailed behind. I took the girl and myself back there. I told Louis to go to the Pawn Shop, that was where the next safe house was. Zoey had lost all joy it had seemed. The little girl got off my shoulders. She held my hand she said two words, "Zoe, go."

Zoey collected herself. She grabbed onto my hand and we ran.

"RAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAHHHHHHH!" several shrieks were heard from the darkness.

"GO!" I yelled I threw the girl at Zoey who took off running. I was left alone in the street. Across the street came the horde. Several zombies, a good thirty came running dead sprint. I fired my M4. They hit their marks. The horrible sound that every soldier hates while in the thickness of combat occurred. The click. My magazine hit empty. I drew my knife. The horde kept running, a good 5 zombies were left. I stabbed the first as he got there. The other four quickly surrounded me. I slashed one's throat. It staggered to the ground. Three remained. There claws were like knives which seemed to be tearing me apart. My vision began to blur. I hit one in the face and drew my M9 in one motion. I fired, getting headshots on both during the time.

They staggered to the ground. I felt my chest. There were claw marks across my chest. My blood was dripping out of the nasty cuts. I limped back to the Pawn Shop. I opened the door walked in and locked the door. We made it. I put my M4 on the table and slumped against the wall. I sighed deeply. We lost two great people today. And one was my fault. Zoey walked over next to me. I stared at the wall in thought. Zoey reached into the pocket of her hoodie and pulled out a beret. It once belonged to Bill. She held it towards me. I shook my head. I did not WANT to remember the lives that were killed. Why should I remember my failure?

"Come on," Zoey said in a sad way like she was trying to hold back the tears, "Bill won't need it anymore so take it." Again I shook my head.

"Yo man," Louis said. He seemed to be cured of his pill addiction. "It ain't cho fault," Louis said, "There wadn't nothin' you coulda done." I was still not convinced. The girl came over and sat next to me.

"Besides, without you we wouldn't be here anyway," Zoey said. Why can't they leave me alone. I stopped gazing at the wall but I still refused to look up.

"Didn't you hate Francis anyway?" Louis asked. I shrugged my shoulders, after what happened today I really have no idea. I looked at the girl. She wore a white shirt with jeans. Her sneakers appeared to have been once blue. With all the grime on her it was hard to tell. Her white shirt had certain areas appear green.

"What's yo name girl?" he asked her. She did not respond she rested her head on my shoulder.

"Heather," she whispered into my ear. No else must of heard. I was shocked but soothed at the same time. Her voice was like a thousand harps strumming. It was as pure as Heaven and I started to think she was my guardian angel. Funny, I thought, I always thought angels were taller. I must have perked up because the other two looked at me strangely.

"What the hell happened to you?" Zoey asked. I met her gaze. She looked confused, you could see however the deaths were really starting to get to her.

"We are gonna be okay," I said.

"WHAT?" Louis and Zoey both asked. They looked at me strangely. Even Louis who was normally optimistic was clearly down in the dumps.

"We are gonna be okay," I repeated. Louis and Zoey's looks went from confused to what appeared to be relieved. I guess it is what my parents said, You are a natural leader. You decide how people feel. If you are happy, those around you will be happy. You are very fit for a leader's position. I raised my head. I looked at Heather and stood up.

I asked, "would you like to come with us?" she nodded. I walked over to my weapon which was on the table. I walked to a sink. I grabbed a rag from my pocket. I wetted in the sink. I started to remove the pieces prevent from damaging it or clogging it. I removed the magazine, unscrewed the barrel, and slid the stock off. I started with the barrel. The iron barrel felt cool from the lack of the blood on it. I took the wet rag and started wiping it in a circular motion. I had to scrub hard here and there but other than that the barrel was relatively clean. I dried it then laid next to me on the table. Next came the body of the gun. The body was coated with gristled caked blood. Water was all that I needed to get off the blood. The pull back lever that I pulled to cock the weapon and allow the first round to be injected into the rifle was stuck. I pulled it back and forth until it finally broke the seal. I wedged the rag in there and removed the clot. The stock had an eye attached to it. I brushed it off. It clattered into the sink and was quickly swept away by the cascading water. The rest of the weapon was relatively clean. I dried the assault rifle off. I walked over to Zoey, I felt something take over me. I wanted to grab her and embrace her. I regained my self-control. I felt myself calm down.

"Yes?" Zoey asked. She was digging into her pack looking for something.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" She asked whimpering.

"You seem... sad."

She was beginning to get all choked up and sad, "Well it's just that..."

"What?"

"I never felt so scared in my life."

"It's okay," I reassured, "We all were scared."

"Really? You didn't seem so,"

"That's because I have had four years of training to help out and conquer my ability to show fear. After all it doesn't help your unit if while you're under fire your leader panics."

"Oh. I actually did feel kind of enbolded when I saw how you were handling it."

"Thanks I guess." I buried my hands in my pocket. Zoey stared at the ground. She randomly kicked at a pebble. "Hey, chin up. We'll get through this, I promise." I reassured. She stuck her head up.

" When will dinner be ready?"

"As soon as I get the instant meals out of my backpack. You always seem to think about your stomach," she commented. I walked over to the middle of the room. Heather came running towards me. She grabbed and hugged my leg. She looked at me and tears were in her eyes. I hate to admit it but I felt like she was becoming my daughter. I sat down, she sat next to me.

"What's wrong?" I asked. She didn't say anything. There was a zombie outside the door. She pointed at it. "You're scared?" I asked. She nodded. "It will be okay, as long as you are with us I swear you will not be hurt," I reassured. She threw a hug onto my arm. I patted her on the back. I knew exactly how she felt.

Zoey walked in with cans of pork, corn and pears in her hands. "Soups on!" She said. She handed each of us a can of pork, corn and pears. She then passed us water bottles. I dug into the food. It was the best meal I ever tasted. I looked over at Heather. She had completely downed her food. Either she never ate food, or she was really, really, different. She stared with a grimace at her empty cans. I slid her my can of pears. She looked at me gracious for the food I gave her then went back to eating.

After dinner we all told stories. Then everyone turned their attention to me.

"So, you went to West Point, have you got any good stories?" Zoey asked.

"I don't know," I started.

"Aww please man," Louis begged. Heather looked at me with pleading eyes.

"Oh alright," I said, "Near West Point there is this old cold war era missile silo. Although the ICBM has been long since removed a giant pile of dirt about a story and four feet tall lie on the launch pad. We took a run which was a good few miles and once we got there, the three D.I.s took their crossing guard vests off and placed them at the top of the pile. They said we had to come and get these vests to win. Okay, we thought not knowing what will happen. The first guy starts to climb up the pile of dirt when one of the D.I.s leaps and tackles the man completely off the pile. From then on it was utter chaos. In the end we didn't even try to get those vests, we just wanted to prove we were better then our D.I.s," I told.

Louis spoke again, "Any other stories? After all, you were an eagle scout."

"Yeah I got one. We were camping at a very cold place up in northern Michigan and a thick layer of snow lie on the ground. During the night, two of the troublemaking scouts whose nicknames were Will the Troll and Bobo Brookera told our cabin we should have some fun. We went to the scoutmasters tent and we began our little onslot. The scoutmaster's son walks up to the cabin and unscrews the lightbulb and knocks the door. Everyone else waited along the ground and in the trees nearby with snowballs ready. The door opens and all these snowballs fly in and the battered scoutmasters shut the door. We went to the next cabin and did the same thing. I guess it was abandoned because nothing happened. So, we went to the final cabin and did the same thing. This time the cabin was inhabited by 16, 17 and 18 year olds. We knock on the door and they come out with shovels. It is pretty much Every man for himself from then on. They grabbed the person who unscrewed the lightbulb and dragged him in. I was wearing a white coat and pants but I still took off running. I eventually came to a hill. I lie down face first except I could see the flashlights shining behind me. I lie near the base of the hill. The flashlights shined above me. I was in the lee of the hill. After the older kids left I hiked back to the our cabin. I was one of ten survivors. The others wouldn't appear until morning the next day." There was some silence. "How does everyone feel about today?" I broke the silence with a question. The birds of sadness had once again landed in everyone's hair.

"I feel like we failed and succeeded today," Louis spoke up.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well as manager and you know since you're a soldier, sometimes in life although is sucks, but, sacrifices must be made to achieve our goal. Francis and Bill knew that they had a good chance of dying when we started this entourage. If they could speak they would want us to survive and not let sacrifices such as these go wasted," Louis explained.

"These lives could've been saved if I wouldn't have missed that damn tank so much," Zoey said.

"Ya see," Louis explained, "It isn't your fault, everyone misses their shots sometimes."

"By the way, has that little girl said anything yet?" Zoey asked.

"Yes," I responded.

"What? Why does she only talk to you?" Zoey and Louis said in harmony.

"I don't know," I responded.

"What's yo name?" Louis asked Heather. Heather moaned and buried her head in my chest.

"Do you want me to tell them?" I whispered into her ear. She nodded. I now spoke to the group.

"Her name's Heather," I said.

"Well what the Hell?!?" Louis asked.

"Watch yer' mouth there's a child here," Zoey said.

"Anyway, why doesn't she speak to us?" Louis asked.

"I really don't think she likes you," I replied. Louis stomped the ground.

"Could you feed my curiosity but do you know about Genealogy?" Zoey asked.

"Well, that's random," I replied.

"You're dodging the question," She replied.

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Just answer the question."

"Yes I know about Genealogy," I replied.

"Do you know what descent you are?"

"Yes, thank God for the Battle of Tours."

"Huh?"

"After the Moors defeat of the Battle of Tours my ancestors met in a small nearby village. My great,great,great,great,great, great, great grandfather was a Frankish Cavalrymen, My (just as many greats) grandmother was a Muslim woman. After they met they later fell in love, the rest is unknown. On my mother's side her so ancestors were Native Americans meeting an English explorer. The results, my Father has French and Islamic Blood and my mother Native American and English."

"You're a Muslim?" Zoey asked.

"No, I am Presbyterian," I replied, "I just have Islamic blood." I started getting sleepy. "I guess we should break out the sleeping bags," I said. I grabbed my green sleeping bag. The storage room of the Pawn Shop was fairly small so we were relatively close together. Zoey was on my left, Heather who was sleeping in Bill's sleeping bag on my right and Louis at my feet. I heard what sounded like someone banging on the door. I thought it was just my imagination and dozed off thinking dreaming of what happened today.


	4. Chapter 4:Two Up, the Virus Evolves

Chap 4: Two up

I awoke at around 8:00. I rose and looked around me. I was the only one here. I looked in the bathroom. No one. I grabbed my M4, I better get going, they will die without me. I opened the red door. If I get pounced or constricted it's over. I walked outside. There was a drizzle going on. I climbed a ladder when I got to the top I had a chance to look around. I appeared to be high up on a building. It was morning, so until 12 no zombies would be out. I climbed down the ladder and took off dead sprint. I need to get as far as I can before the zombies awaken. God I hated being alone. Every wind gust, stick breaking or creak made me turn around. I came upon a figure. My watch clicked. In my head my brain yelled, ding 12 O'clock, lunch is served come and get it raw! I walked towards the figure. I shined my light on its back. It was slumped against the wall. I pulled the arm. It was Heather.

She was lying against the wall. At first I thought she was dead. I took out my canteen and poored water on her. She coughed. At least it was a sign of life. She shivered. I sat next to her. Thank God who apparently was killed by the horde, for daylight savings time.

"Where is everyone?" I asked her. She spoke the most she has ever spoken.

"Zoe and Louis ran off, said they were heading to apartments for safehouse. After I didn't say anything they threw me aside saying I was unimportant."

"Can you walk?" I asked. She nodded. I held her hand, "Come on, we got to hustle!" we ran as fast as my legs could carry me.

We eventually came to a building, it was dark and I could barely see. From my flashlight I climbed some stairs. When I got to the roof, two people were polishing weapons on a picnic table.

"What the hell?" the first person asked.

"Are you for real?" the other asked.

"Last time I checked I was," I said. I walked forward into the light and I got a clear view of them. Both appeared to be soldiers. One was a female polishing an M40A1 sniper rifle. The other was a man holding a M-349 SAW Light Machine Gun and on his back was a M-1014 combat semi-automatic shotgun. They were startled when they noticed I was a soldier in uniform.

"What's your name and rank soldier?" The person with a machinegun asked.

"Major Tony Franks, 31st National Guard, Zulu Company," I explained.

"Zulu Company?" The person asked, "I Thought they were all wiped out."

"Yeah, everyone but me," I explained. "Anyway, what's your names and ranks?"

"Master Sergeant Jennifer Macowits, 31st National Guard, Fireteam Charlie," The female sniper responded.

"Private John Leonard, 31st National Guard, Fireteam Charlie," The other man replied.

"Since I outrank you both you are being folded into my unit," I spoke.

"Alright, what's the plan Franks?" Macowits asked. Both of the soldiers' uniforms were in perfect condition. There wasn't a blood splatter or anything wrong with the uniform. I have to admit. That Macowits was not bad looking at all.

"I found some survivors earlier but they went AWOL before we made it," I explained, "Our main job is to survive but those survivors' lives are a highly important secondary objective," She nodded. "This is Heather, she is a young girl I found while in the metro station," I explained.

I opened a door. There was a thud thud thud thud. Oh shit! I thought, Tank approaching! The figure which appeared to look like a tank rounded a building. Mutated into it's arm was a large axe. Macowits aimed for the head. My heart stopped as the bullet ricocheted off. A bony helmet formed over the tank's head. It took a swing at us on the roof. It missed but completely broke part of the wall. "RUN!" I yelled. I grabbed Heather and mounted her on my shoulder and took off running. The two soldiers trailing behind me. It kept coming and coming. Each time it swing the air behind it seemed to say faster! I jumped through a window. I fell two stories below. I landed on a roof. A pain shot up my leg. I kept running. My tactical mind took over. The other soldiers and I climbed up a fire escape. Leonard planted C-4 on a the escape. As it came up the escape he detonated it. The new tank was unfaltered it continued running. I looked in front of me. Perfect! At the end of the roof lie a metal beam. I went as fast as I could everyone I know's life or death depended on this. I reached and my pocket and loaded my 203 with an anti-armor grenade. As the tank ran across the bridge I fired. The beam broke and the tank landed in the river below. The current took it and it started to float down stream. I prayed that this would be the last I saw of this thing.

I heard a knocking. I opened the door and there was a woman in the room. My flashlight's batteries died. The woman did not speak. She led me to the roof where there was better lighting. It was Zoey.

"Oh Tony thank God it's you!" She said.

"..." I was still furious about earlier.

"What?" She asked.

"..."

"I am sorry I abandoned you."

"..." I glared at her with my blood boiling, unless I got a good explanation fast I was going to strangle her. The only thing holding me back was Leonard and Macowits.

"I was fuming last night. You seemed far to optimistic after Bill and Francis's demise. I no longer felt safe like I used to. So during the night Louis, Heather and I left. We had to drag Heather though. But now I see the light. I beg of you please let me come along," Zoey pleaded.

"I say we leave her Commander," Macowits said.

"Shut up Bitch, this is between me and Tony!" Zoey shouted.

"Oh no you didn't Civilian!" Macowits responded.

"You want to fight me Bitch?" Zoey asked.

"I guess this is where my year of training comes to play!" Macowits responded. She put her fists for a fight.

"Wow," John said, "I never could get two girls to fight over me. Especially 20 year-old Jen and a college girl. You have such a sweet life man." I couldn't help but chuckle. I had to admit, this was getting pretty sweet.

"GIRLS, GIRLS BREAK IT UP!" I yelled and walked towards the scrap. Macowits had Zoey pinned on the ground and was preparing to sock Zoey in the face. Jen got off. I reached out and helped Zoey up. I looked into her eyes which were filled with all emotions, fear, sadness, anger, hate, joy. She looked away.

"Let's go," Zoey said. She picked up her Hunting Rifle. We walked down the stairs. I looked at a Zombie, he had horns and his claws were not as sharp. Instead he had what appeared to be spiked clubs at the end of it's hands. The Virus was changing. Outside, the rain had stopped. All the zombie forms: Smoker, Hunter, Boomer, Tank and Common Infected had changed except the Witch. The Boomer no longer was that fluffy easily killed zombie. Instead he was slightly more durable, and had sacks on his skin that would erupt, spurting the bile. The smoker now had a what appeared to be a claw around the end of it's tongue that allowed it to either chain multiple people or attach it to a building. Also when in danger the Smoker could detach the end of it's tongue allowing it to escape. The hunter now had evolved a larger brain allowing better thought and tactics. And as we already saw, the tank was nearly indestructable.

We came to a large structure. Inside was a man struggling against hordes of zombies with a shotgun. He yelled things like, 'Damn these undead zombies," I noticed the suit and the skin tone. It was Louis. Jen climbed the ladder to what looked like an overwatch overlooking the factory below.

"I'll take the first shot," She said. She deployed her tripod on her M40A1. "The lord is my savior and to which I shall serve. And with the help of the rest of the flock I will serve my shepherd by closing the gates of hell. It starts by killing the guard," she whispered. She fired one round. It went through four Zombies and hit a Boomer which now had a larger explosion then before. The explosion scattered the bile on all the Zombies causing a Civil War. In the end one zombie stood victorious. A 7.62 round ensured he would stand no more. Louis climbed down the ladder.

"Jesus Christ! It really is you Tony! By god I thought for sure it was over for me!" Louis cried. He gave me a warm hug, I nudged him back.

"We ain't that close," I explained. He gave me a high-five. My god, the sound of the horde blocked out my hearing. I looked down the hall and saw millions of Zombies coming. Zoey threw a pipe bomb. I spotted a Manager's quarters upstairs, red doors!

"GO GO GO GO GO! RED DOORS, TOP OF THE STAIRS!" I yelled. Thud thud thud thud thud thud EEEYARGH! Another mutated tank approached. I fired a flashbang. It twisted around stunned. I opened the door and ran inside.

The tank no longer could smell us and I could hear it's thud thud trail off. Inside, John had started a good 5 feet in diameter bonfire. I tossed a zombie limb in it. It combusted immediately. I stared at the flames intensely.

"I know you are upset," Zoey started.

"Really," I responded sarcastically, "You must've been the smartest jackass in the world to figure that out." I saw a sting of hurt in Zoey's eyes.

"Please, I am sorry," Zoey apologized. I turned the other direction. Jen was sitting next to me. She had green eyes and her brown hair was round into a bun. She stared at her sniper as she continued polishing it. She wore the standard army-issue BDUs (Battle Dress Uniform). She looked at me.

"Yes, what is it?" Jen asked, her voice was soft and sounded similar to Zoey's only it had a softer tone. It almost seemed like she couldn't harm a fly.

"Oh nothing, just studying," I said. I wanted Zoey to be jealous just so she got mad.

"Oh you," she blushed. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot! She isn't supposed to blush! "Go ahead and study away," she said. Alright! I thought, I have broken the heart of steel!

Leonard whispered to me, "How do you do that I have tried that for three years!" I shrugged. Jen scooted closer to me. Zoey scooted closer on the other side. Heather sat in my lap. I looked at Jen, she looked away.

"I like Zoe more," Heather whispered to me. I always listened to Heather, after all I had now taken her as my daughter now. Whoever she wanted as her mommy had a good chance of being so. Whether it was Zoey and her looks and attitude, or Jen and her personality and all those curves.

"Aww," Jen said, "She's soooo cute."

"Yeah, well I like her too," Zoey said. My plan was working. Jen put her arm around me. It felt so warm and soft. Like a long pillow. Zoey pulled out a pistol, put in a tazer round and shot Jen in the foot. I laughed. It was jealousy to the highest level. "Well," Zoey said in an agitated tone, "I guess I'll hand out the food."

"No need, I have some extra rations myself," Jen said. This was getting better and better. She pulled out her mini lunchman meals, their were six. Mine contained meatloaf with a two crackers, mashed potatoes, green beans, and Peanut Butter as well as Jelly. She also handed out waters. We all ate our meals in silence. We broke out the sleeping bags. Before I went to sleep Zoey and Jen approached me. They hauled me off to a bathroom.

"What's going on here?" I asked.

"We need you to make a decision right here right now," Zoey spoke. This seemed to start getting a lot like Mass Effect.

"Which one of us do you like the most?" Jen asked.

"Can't we talk about this in the morning?" I asked. I started to walk towards the door. Zoey shoved me back, I landed in the bathtub.

"So who's it going to be?" Zoey asked. I thought for a long time I realized after today I no longer loved Zoey also I just met Jen so I responded ten minutes later, "Neither." The two looked shocked. They were speechless. I walked down stairs and sat in a chair. I dressed my chest wounds then crawled into my sleeping bag. Before I fell asleep, I felt Heather lay right beside me, near the armpit. Zoey held my right hand, Jen held my left. I drifted to sleep. Zoey and Jen are gonna kill eachother worse then the zombies.

AN: again this is my second story. If you don't like it tell me how to fix it. NO EMAILS.


	5. Chapter 5: Kiss of Destiny

Chap 5. A Kiss with Destiny

I awoke. I shook my head. I smelled myself and found I had a bad case of morning breath. I walked to the bathroom. I took out a toothbrush which I haven't used I what seems like forever. I brushed my teeth. I couldn't help but think of what happened last night. Did I make the right choice? Only time will tell. Everyone was awake. Jen was walking around, you could tell she was in deep thought. Zoey was scrubbing her weapon vigorously almost like she was angry. Leonard was talking to Louis about God knows what and Heather was in a corner reading her bible.

Jen approached me. "Can we talk?" she asked. I nodded. She grabbed my arm and led me into a storage room. "Listen, about last night," She started.

"I'm sorry about what I said," I responded, "it may have been to harsh."

"Don't go easy on me," she said, "I shouldn't have put you in that situation."

"..."

"I wanted to apologize for making you look like a jackass."

"Don't worry I can do that on my own without your help." She chuckled then socked me in the arm. "Always a sense of humor," she said, "I will win you back." I walked down stairs again. Leonard came up to me.

"Come on Major, let's get moving already! Louis and I are anxious," he said. He and the black man were starting to get along well now.

"We'll get moving soon enough," I replied. We zipped the sleeping bags, we loaded the backpack. It was my turn to carry it. It was HEAVY! This thing had everything in it. After a while I adapted. The backpack almost seemed like it wasn't there. I grabbed my M-4. Leonard took the lead, hefting out his Combat Shotgun he opened the door. He fired one round and the first zombie lie completely obliterated. I soon discovered that Hunters are able to do a 180 degree pounce. This new string of Zombie genetics made it even tougher. We continued blowing our way through the horde. Mostly Leonard and his Combat Shotgun. Those harden skins could not protect them against superior ballistics. Thud thud thud thud thud thud thud! Another one of the new tanks which I deemed now to be known as a Reaper approached. We took a firing line position with myself in the middle, the two soldiers in the flanks, and Louis and Zoey in between us. The behemoth approached. It let out a war cry. This thing took a swing with an axe. It took out a support beam near us. I realized if it took out all support beams thee roof would fall and crush us.

Our fire erupted. All our M-16's, M-4, our LMG, and our two snipers fired. The thing didn't even flinch. It grabbed a piece of wood from the wall. It splintered it with it's axe making it a lethal wooden pin cushion. It then hefted it and lobbed it at us. One of the barbs flew off. Heather stood frozen as it came to strike her. I dove in the way. The 7 inch long wooden spike struck me in the chest. Luckily it missed all my major organs. But, it was in between my ribs. An unbelievable amount of pain struck me. I staggered around. I grabbed a cabinet nearby and pulled hoping to sturdy myself. It fell crushing me. It felt like I had been stabbed with a bayonet. I started feeling weak. I looked at my fellow survivors, they hadn't noticed me. That was good. I need them to do their duty rather than worry about me. I saw my life flash before myself. I saw my First Kiss with a girl named Emily in the 7th Grade. I saw my first place Science Fair project, the Lemon Lightbulb during my junior year at High School. My time at West Point. Graduating at the head of my class. Ranger School. The beginning of the infection. And my meeting of the survivors. I was not about to die today. I swore to defend these survivors until the end. I wasn't dead yet.

My legs felt crushed. It pained me to move them. The behemoth kept approaching. I knew what I must do. I drew a desert eagle I had found on a corpse. I buckled down and prepared a last stand. The Reaper came too close. The group retreated to a balcony. As he started to run, Leonard was back hand slapped and flew to the balcony. The reaper came close, ignoring me as it ran to the stairs. I fired once, twice, and then a third time. The .50 caliber rounds that could tear apart a car struck the Reaper in the lower jaw. That thing had a thick skull. The bullets went through the the Reaper ricocheting off the top of it's skull doing further damage to the body.

I did my duty. I was ready to move on. The group tended to Leonard who had broken ribs. I lie under the cabinet. I did not say anything I didn't have the energy. Jen was the one who noticed me. I barely had the strength to lift my eyes. I closed them. She took a first aid kit and tended to my injuries. I knew I was bleeding. I could feel it all over my body. I felt no pain. I lie there with my eyes closed thoughtless. I could feel my body being pulled out from the cabinet. I now felt nothing.

I was in a dark tunnel. Along the walls I could see all the sins and evils I committed in the past. At one end of the tunnel a white light shone and I could see what looked like Bill and Francis moving their hands in a certain motion and a whisper filled my ears, join us, join us. I looked behind me. It was filled with a demon. It was all black except for it's face. Fire lined that end of the cave. The demon had a red face with horns and a tongue that stuck out similar to that of a tanks. It held a pitchfork. My sins weighed me down. My great heroism, bravery, honesty, and good deads lifted me up. I saw a side passage. I attempted to move to it. Thankfully for me my good deads had a net exchange higher then that of my sins. I rose. I was high in the clouds. I saw Bill and Francis. Zulu Company was there. My parents waited smiling.

"Tony!" They said, "How good to see you. But how terrible your here."

"Why am I here?" I asked. They grinned.

"Isn't it obvious, you're dead!" they said. There was a boom. The clouds vibrated.

"Hurry! Seek the angel Gabriel only he knows where you must seek trial," they concluded. They vanished as in literally dissolved. I looked around. Upon the clouds was a magnificent castle. I saw a greeter at the front. They wore all white. They had a gold halo above his head. His voice had the serenity of a thousand harps, yet the ferocity of a thousand drums.

"What do you need Mortal?" the angel asked.

"I wish to speak to Gabriel something about a trial," I explained.

"Oh, the new blood. Gabriel is just inside. Go on in," It said. I walked inside. The walls were lined with gold. The throne was made of a white silver. An angel sat at a desk.

"What is it Mortal?" He asked.

"Are you Gabriel?" I asked.

"Yes, now what is it you seek?" Gabriel asked.

"I was sent here for some type of a trial," I explained again.

"Ah yes," Gabriel said, " A Mr. Tony Franks please follow me, only God can decide your fate." I followed. We walked through a narrow hallway, the walls had every skin of every animal God ever made. The rough skin of a dinosaur. The puffy fur of a unicorn. The hard horns of a Minotaur. We came to this large room. A man sat in a throne in a large meeting room. He was holy white all over. He had a glow to him and a halo suggesting his holiness. He had black hair with a beard that went from each side of his head to the other forming a beard and a mustache in it. His hair color was brown and his eyes colorless. The sight of him made me fall to the ground and bow.

"You're holiness! I am humbled by your presence," I spoke. He lifted his hand.

"You may rise Mortal," He said. His voice had holiness in it. It was similar to that of an angels but had a booming tone to it. Almost like the Prophet of Truth of a video game from 2004. I rose. But I kept my head bowed. He was a really awe-inspiring person. "Do you know why I called you here?" God asked. I shook my head. "It's judgment day. Today is the day I decide your fate. Let's recap your," he searched for the right word, "demise." A large television screen slid from the wall. It showed my last few minutes on Earth. "You chose the safety of your friends over your own life. You died so they could live. This is true leadership." He rewinded it to where the Reaper's chunk of wood splintered my chest. "You chose the life of a young girl over your own. You died so she could live. Sacrifices as these are rare in the few occasions they happen." He rewound some more to where I tried to make Zoey jealous. "You attempted to manipulate this woman's feelings. This is a very cruel thing to do to a fellow Human who adores you." I felt bad for her. "However, you still didn't deserve to die. You helped a young girl survive. I believe that thou shalt be brought back to Earth in his body. YOU ARE RESURRECTED!" I saw the clouds disappear around me. I felt myself falling. I looked down. The ground was getting closer and closer and closer. I could see the building.

I felt a thud. I coughed a second . I could hear again.

"OH MY GOD HE IS BREATHING AGAIN!" A voice yelled. My eyes felt heavy. I opened my eyes a crack. A voice echoed in my head, you will hear two bells, once you hear these you are to lean over and kiss the woman you love. She is the one who will be bound to you forever. I heard several footsteps run towards me. I blinked my eyes heavily. I coughed again. This time I opened my eyes all the way. Everyone was looking at me.

"Ho-ly Shit," Louis murmured.

"Son of a Bitch this is unbelievable," Leonard murmured as well.

"DEAR GOD!" Zoey and Jen said in unison.

"..." said Heather. I groaned. I looked around. Zoey came rushing over, a med pac in hand. She wrapped bandages around my wounds, the piece of wood was out. It lie on the floor covered in blood. I saw Zoey put MORE of that tree sap in my wounds. Louis gave me some pain pills, I felt the pain being numbed. I attempted to stand, Jen helped me up. I stumbled around. I looked at the Reaper's body. It is clear that the three shots had been fatal to the zombie. Zoey looked into my eyes.

"Are you alright? Can you move?" Zoey asked. I nodded. The next safehouse wasn't far away. Thud thud thud thud thud thud it sounded like a reaper approached. I was surprised when a normal tank came over the roof. We opened fire. The tank took four large strides. It did an uppercut Jen went flying into a wall.

"JEN!" Leonard screamed. He ran over towards her. The other three and I opened fire. Louis got hit with a tricycle that the tank threw at him.

"Ow," he said, "Racism!" the tank slumped to one side. Then fell over dead. Leonard was still over the corpse of Master Sergeant Jennifer Macowits. He kept nudging her.

"Come on Jen, wake up. Wake up, please!" Leonard cried.

"Come on John, we need to move! Look at me, hey we have to go," I said. Leonard was sobbing now. He rose to his feet and removed the dogtags of our poor Jen. He kissed them then slid them into his pocket. He wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Alright (sniffle) let's move," He said. We walked into the downstairs of an apartment. The red steel doors!

We made it. Leonard and I sat in a corner. Leonard didn't even glance at anyone. He just kept looking at the blood coated identification tags. Zoey walked over to me. "Let's talk," Zoey said. We walked into a bedroom. A dim glow was illuminated by the candles. I heard a church bell dong, ding dong, ding dong. Zoey and I looked in eachother's eyes. We could see the soul behind them. We moved closer together. Are heads moved in rhythm hitting eachother right on the lips. I kissed her. It was a long and passionate kiss. She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me closer. I kissed her again. I put my hands on her hips. We withdrew and rubbed our noses together. She looked naughtily into my eyes. We kissed again. It felt like their was a spark behind it giving me strength and happiness. Time seemed like it would never end. We finally withdrew. We scooted back and looked in eachother's eyes again. I could see the world behind her. Her little college girl cuteness and beauty inspired me to go on. Until I remembered I still haven't got first-aid. I cringed as a sudden burst of pain shot up my chest. My adrenaline stopped rushing. Zoey looked concerned.

"What's wrong?" Zoey asked. I pointed at my chest. She grabbed a huge roll of medical tape. In the end I looked like an Egyptian Mummy. Their was tape here, antibiotics over there. I looked like a 5 year old art project. I went downstairs. I was exhausted I quickly ate only a little food and fell into a deep slumber.


	6. Chapter 6: The Return

Chap 6: The Return

I awoke at 5 in a daze. My mind seems brisk and awakened. No one else except Leonard was awake. I doubt he got any sleep at all last night. He was now stairing at a wall. Near him lie about thirty Red Bull cans around him. The death of Jen was catastrophic. I don't know why I kissed Zoey last night. It almost seemed like some divine force propelled me. But when we did lock lips I felt a spark of joy and strength. It was like it was meant to be.

About an hour passed while I cleaned my weapon. Zoey came out of a room with a smirk on her face. "How's the princess?" I asked. She came over and hugged me. She kissed me on my head.

"I'm okay," she said, "especially after last night." I had a feeling in the pit of my chest that she wasn't gonna let this go. So far it was harmless but the last thing we needed was it harming our ability in combat. I loved her, but I couldn't let our love be a distraction in our fight for survival. I pulled a map out of my pocket. We would need to travel through the downtown street, through the zoo. Through the Museum of Natural History and Finally arrive at Mercy Hospital. Leonard rose to his feet. He had a look on his face of revenge.

"When will we kill these bitches?" Leonard asked. By now Heather was awake.

"As soon as Louis wakes up we'll move," I replied. I had a plan in mind. We would walk to the Fairfield National Guard Armory. We would load up on ammo and take a Humvee out of here to the zoo. From there we would walk to the Museum of Ancient History. From the exit we could walk two blocks to the Hospital. It sounds simple right. I doubt it would be that simple. Louis woke a few minutes later.

I laid out the map on the table. I grabbed a near by marker and prepared to debrief our makeshift unit. "Come on People! Here's the plan," I said. I marked an X where we were. "We are on Oak Street. To get to the Armory we had to walk four blocks and end up on Cadaver Street. From here we would drive 4.29 miles to the Fairfield Zoo onboard a Humvee. It has a mounted .50 caliber machine gun on it and it can survive small arms fire as well as RPG misses that strike nearby." I circled where the Armory was on Cadaver Street. "The Fairfield Zoo is on Toten Road. From here we will walk through the Zoo ending up in the museum of Ancient History. It is just across the street. Mercy Hospital is on Cessation Drive. Now this isn't gonna' be a cake walk. As you may know, ironically all of these streets are synonyms of death. But do not be unnerved. If we stay together, work as a team and get plenty of headshots we will get out of this Hell alive! Let's get ready to move!" I briefed. Now came the worst part of a soldiers life. Waiting. As a soldier you looked around you. Your friends might not make it through the day, you might not make it. It was this waiting that scared the soldiers the most. It's not combat because their's training for that, once in combat, everyone knows exactly how to act.

We grabbed our weapons, shoved a fresh clip into our guns and opened the door. The air was filled with a musty smell. The rot of decay and death filled the air. I took point. I walked down the hallway. The building was clear. I opened the sliding glass the door and stepped into the street. As usual the sky was dark almost like it was raining. Zombies littered the street. I'm glad I found these silencers. I gestured with my hand telling them to stop and hold their fire. I screwed a silencer on my M-4. I took aim at the first Zombie. I fired. Small poof of smoke appeared infront of my gun. A tick sound occcured barely able to be heard. Normally a horde rushed out you because of the muzzle flash or the crack of the shot. However, they went back to doing what they normally do. I was able to successfully pick off each one before we all exited.

We took off running down the street. It wasn't long until we reached the armory. I entered the code for the door. The door slidd open. When we walked inside it was the best place I had ever seen. M-4's, SAW's,M-16's, Shotguns,M40A1's, M21's, LAW Rocket Launchers, and old M2 Flamethrowers lined the wall. There were crates stacked high with ammo. Entire boxes were filled with rations. For a while I thought we could stay here forever. But then I remembered, we had one chance to escape and we needed to take it. We grabbed all the ammo we could carry. Zoey traded her Hunting Rifle for a Military-Issued Semi-automatic M21 Sniper rifle. Louis traded his Uzi for an MP5. We traded our normal pistols for .50 caliber Desert Eagles. We grabbed ammo and went to the motor pool. There, I saw an awe inspiring gift from god himself. Rather than a Humvee I saw God's chariot... The M1A1 Abrams main battle tank. I touched the Steel Armor. It felt cold. I hugged it. I looked at my fellow survivors. They had their mouthes a gape. I had an idea, we load the supplies on the Humvee and we take the Humvee with one man in it while the Abrams follows. We loaded the Humvee with about 400 assault rifle rounds. And line our backpack with a week of food. I grab gunner seat in the tank. Leonard grabs driver, Louis grabs the Coaxial Machine gun and Zoey drives the Humvee with Heather sitting in a passenger seat. We all grabbed headsets so we could communicate.

"Alright, let's roll on out!" I yelled into the headset, "Loading HEAT (anti-personal) round!" The grinding of the tank treads made us feel undestructable.

"Reaper, 12 O'Clock!" Leonard yelled, "32 degrees to the right!" I rotated the turret and pulled the trigger. A thump flew throughout the tank. I looked in the scope and saw the round hit the Reaper. The chest of it dissolved. It slumped to the ground.

"Shot confirmed for kill. Here comes a Horde, Louis get ready!" I yelled. _Pum pum pum pum pum pum pum pum pum pum pum pum! _The 7.62 machine gun fired. The general horde was cut to pieces. Limbs flew this way and that. Zoey gunned it in the Humvee and splattered a zombie over the windshield. We continued racing down the street. The purr of the Humvee's engine and the roar of our tank's tracks. Multiple zombies would run at us. But our firepower enabled us to cut them down with ease. "There! The Zoo!" I yelled. Leonard got out first followed by Louis. They ran to the Humvee and Zoey and Heather got out. I stayed in for a little bit. I mounted the top .50 caliber machine gun and fired. The zombies were quickly killed. I climbed out of the hatch. "Now that was fun," I said. We walked through the zoo. Some of the cages were open. Some had corpses inside. Some held riotous monkeys. However, we arrived near the end. A bad feeling was in the pit of my chest again. I saw a bent sign that said, the Savannah. Their was in one cage what appeared to be a lion. It was about 20 feet tall however. Clearly the disease affected it too. It roared at us. It made me shudder. I felt like this thing was hungry. I started to back away like the rest of the survivors. I tripped. The ground was littered with Human skulls. The skulls were of all ages. Without warning the lion clawed through the metal bars. The bars gave way with little resistance. The lion leapt from the cage. When it hit the ground, the ground shuddered. I stumbled when it hit. The lion had no fur, and had dark bluish skin like it's entire body was bruised the main was a layer of skin without hair. Almost like a boomer's flab.

Without warning we opened fire. Our weapons cracked. The lion roared and shook it's mighty head. It ran towards me. I dove out of the way. It pawed where I used to be. It's claw took out a wall in a building. The roof tumbled down and a piece of cement smacked it in the face. It shook it's head and faced towards us. It growled. With teeth showing and claws out it walked towards us again. It started crawling towards us. It pounced and landed on a roof. It growled visciously then ran towards us again. We started running away. It absorbed our bullets like a sponge. We ran towards the entrance. I ran faster than the rest of the group. I knew what I must do. The lion's claws created indentations on the ground. Every step, a small horde appeared. Only to be swatted away by the creatures massive claws. I saw what I had been looking for. The tank. I hopped in. Leonard grabbed driver, Louis was in the Coaxial Machine Gun. Zoey was up top on the Mounted .50 cal. We started firing. I saw only five more HEAT rounds in the tank. Louis opened up with the 7.62. he fired.

"Shit! I'm dry!" Louis yelled. The Coax was out. We continued firing. The lion clawed. It completely carved out part of the front. It only hit shielding on the track.

"BACK UP MAN BACK UP!" I yelled, the claws could tear through solid steel. Our tank roared back as we fled. I loaded in the HEAT round. "Gun ready!" I yelled. I fired. The tank shuddered with the hint of the impact. I saw the Lion get enveloped in a pit of smoke. It shook it's head. Roaring in pain it ran at us again. I grabbed the nearest round and shoved it into the turret.

"Out of Ammo!" Zoey said. I had three rounds minus this ones until we were completely out.

"Gun ready!" I yelled.

"Then for Chrissake shoot!" Louis responded. I fired this time it struck the foot wide eye. The eye flew out of the head. It hit Zoey in the head. "I may like animals, but THIS is a little extreme," she said. I had an idea. I threw Zoey her M21.

"Hit the eye!" I yelled. She took aim. First shot miss. Killed a nearby smoker however. Second shot hit, but it hit the head. The lion just shrugged it off. Third shot, hit the eye. The beast roared in pain. I responded by shoving a HEAT round down his throat. You could see the round travel until it struck the spinal cord. The beast toppled. The entire skull had been blown off. Only the lower jaw remain as part of the head. Everyone in the tank breathed a sigh of relief. Except Heather. We drove ten blocks back to the zoo. All the animals were either dead or gone now except the Chimpanzees who formed a defence. Any zombie who got close was hit with a barrage of rocks, and bashed with bamboo sticks. It was funny to watch a Boomer spray a monkey with bile from a sack on it's cheek. When a horde rushed, the monkeys threw about 40 rocks, when the last ten made it to the cage. The chimps whipped them sticks. I doubt the zombies even know what hit them, even if they were not capable of rational thought. Apparently the alpha-male was the one who wore a tank's tongue attached to a piece of straw circling the head. THAT would have been funny to watch a group of monkeys kill a tank. We moved on. We got to the edge of the zoo. We saw across the street a sign that said Mu eum o Anc ent Tory. "I'm gonna guess that's the Museum of Natural History," I spoke. We crossed the street. An erie silence filled the air. I did not like this one bit. We opened the doors with a creak. We stepped inside.

"Ego ingruo mortuus per putesco vel ater Gladius contego ego," a voice said from the darkness. I swiveled around. A man standing wearing ancient Roman Legionaire Armor stood with a bloody sword in hand.

"What the Hell?" I asked. The man looked confused.

"What? Never hear Latin before?" he asked.

"Why are you wearing armor?" I asked.

"I am one of many survivors who are immune to the plague. We are hiding in the Museum, there's me the Roman, Toku the Ninja, and Plagos the Greek Hoplite," He yelled into the darkness, "Plebes we now have visitors! Now what is it you need survivors?" he asked.

"We are trying to get to Mercy Hospital," I said.

"Museum exit is over there. Take Toku with you," he said. A man came flying through the darkness. He carried daggers with him and shuriken. I have to admit, he does look like a ninja. He came leaping off walls. His daggers were coated in blood.

"Hie let's go," Toku said. We stepped onto the street. The rain was cold. I shivered. Zoey looked alarmed.

"You okay?" she asked. I nodded. Now we had to walk 15 blocks which was more than I suspected to get to Mercy Hospital. Mercy hospital stood out taller than the rest of the buildings in the city. It's large green letters gave us all a sense of hope. I looked to my left. I golf cart lie on it's side. The keys still in the ignition. A second one was nearby. I stared at them.

"You can't be serious, a golf cart?" Leonard asked.

"Oh, I'm serious," I flipped the first one over. I touched the pedal. The cart nudged forward. "We're gonna ride through a zombie apocolypse in a friggin' caddy?"

"No, a 2004 golf cart," I replied, "or you could ride one of those cows over there." I pointed to a group of random cattle. They mooed. I could tell that cows liked being part of a non-fiction story. We mounted the golf carts. Zoey, Heather and I in one, while Louis and Leonard were in another. Just before I put the petal to the metal I heard knocking and yelling. I got out. I went over to a closet that just appeared out of nowhere. I opened the door. My eyes widened and my mouth dropped. I almost got tears to my eyes. My eyes met the eyes of Francis and Bill.

"WHAT THE?" I asked, "HOW DID YOU GET HERE? YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!" I gestured for everyone to come over. They all were in shock. The return of the dead in unzombie normal form.

"Well if it aint old man Bill and Thumbsucker Francis?" Zoey said.

"How did you get here and locked from the inside in a random closet?" I repeated.

"I really don't know. When we were in Heaven we fell and SMACK we were trapped inside a closet!" Bill said.

"I only suck my thumb when I'm scared!" Francis defended.

"Whatever," I said, "we're getting outta here. Unfortuantely we have to take these golf carts."

"I call Vietnam Vet!" Zoey called.

"There's no Japanese animal doctor here," Francis said.

"Do you even know where Japan is?" Zoey asked.

"Umm... United Kingdom of Tom?" Francis asked.

"Francis what are these?" Zoey pointed to a book.

"Strange symbols."

"Alright, Tony, Bill, Zoey, and John, when we get through this I'm givin' you all jobs," Louis said, "Francis, I'm gonna teach yo ass how to read!" we walked over to the golf carts. Bill hopped in the back of ours I gave him our M60 light machine gun. He faced the back of our cart. Francis was in the back of the other cart with a SAW machine gun.

"PEDAL TO THE METAL!" I yelled. Our golf cart leapt forward, clawing for the street. We sped as fast as we could at a fast 20 mph. I drove the cart and Leonard drove the other. We zig zagged back and forth from the street. A tank approached from a dark alley. What happened next was pure awesome. The _normal _tank did an uppercut. It hit our cart and we did three barrel rolls through the air, landed on a hunter and startled a witch. The witch screamed and was taken out by a flying forklift from the tank who then fell on his face and died. After being struck by the same forklift after it ricotheted off the wall. I gunned it. We broke through a wall of debris and emerged in the parking lot of Mercy Hospital. Once we entered a tape was on the desk. I grabbed the recording and entered the safe house. We made it. We finally got to the hospital. All we needed to do was get to the roof. We gathered around a circle in the room and sat down.

"What's that you got there?" Francis asked. He noticed the recorder in my hand. Zoey sat next to me, Francis next to her, Louis next to him, Bill next to him, and Heather on my other side. Zoey rested her head on my shoulder. I hit the play button on the recorder.

"_Day thirty-seven of the Lung Cancer research. Today we found that the bacteria respond positively to the chemical Neon. They multiply and attack the tumor. Dr. Drasnin, Dr. Drasnin come over here! The bacteria, they're changing they're ergh AHHHHHH! OH MY GOD WHAT THE HELL! __***Another voice spoke( **__What's going on in here? Kennedy, Kennedy! *original voice spoke again( _

_This thing is no cure, it's a virus! Initiate lock...EARGH! My head, oh my god it hurts! *Ripping was heard the second voice spoke^ what the... GET OFF OF ME NOOOOOOO STOP BITING ME! IF ANYONE CAN HEAR THIS LOCKDOWN THE SYSTEM, PREVENT THE PLAGUE FROM SPREADING! *_End Transmittion, gun shots rang out, sirens were heard.^ I realized that Alpha Company couldn't have held out. The doors were wide open, zombies lurked inside. I could feel them.

"Zoey why are you resting on him?" Francis asked.

"Because...I...Love...Him," Zoey spoke slowly.

"WHAT? I WAS GONE FOR JUST A LITTLE BIT AND YOU'RE IN THE ARMS OF THIS LOSER?" Francis screamed.

"LOSER?" I defended. "I COULD DROP YOUR ASS!"

"HOW DO YOU EVEN KNOW IF YOU LOVE HIM?" Francis asked, "HAVE YOU KISSED OR ANYTHING?"

"Ummmmm," Zoey stuttered.

"WHAT?" Francis asked, "YOU ARE MY WOMAN!"

"WOAH WOAH WOAH WOAH WOAH! YOU ARE GONE FOR 3 DAYS AND YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST COME BACK AND TAKE ZOEY UP IN YOUR ARMS?" I asked.

"Don't I get a say in this?" Zoey asked. Francis and I both looked at her and simultaneously said, "NO!"

"THERE'S ONLY ONE WAY TO SETTLE THIS."

"WHAT'S THAT THUMBFUCKER?"

"IT'S SUCKER I MEAN UMM FRANCIS. ANYWAY, WITH OLD STYLE FISTICUFFS."

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" Bill intervened, "we finally are returned to life and you want to get yourself killed again. Now let's just eat dinner in peace. I grabbed the sausages and beans with excessive force. No one was gonna steal my weanies! No no in that way. Zoey grabbed me afterwards, "let's talk." she brought me to another more remote corner of the room.

"_What's on your mind?" _I whispered

"_You look like you've got something to say," _she whispered back.

"_Who do you like more me or Francis?" _

"_Oh Tony"_

"_Answer the question please."_

"_You duh!"_

"_Now which one do you truly love?"_

"_Let me show you." _she leaned over and kissed me on the lips. It tasted like apricots. Francis noticed this.

"No tonguing over there!" he yelled.

"_Can I have more of a demonstration?" _I asked.

"_No, we don't need to be distracted by this love. But once we get out of here, once we get to safety, it will be different, I promise," _she responded. I understood her logic. We sat there together listening to Bill talk to Francis and the _Ninja. _

"Now this is pretty big, but it doesn't hold a candle to the Zombie Apocolypse of '54. Nah, i'm just Horseshittin' ya."

who was this Ninja and why did he suck at fighting skills so bad? Would the return of Bill and Francis help or hinder our survival? What will happen after we make it back? Will we make it back?

Please R+R


	7. Chapter 7:Return of a Hunter

Chap: 7

Return of the Hunter

We were finally IN Mercy Hospital. All that had happened these past few weeks all added up to our escape now. The only thing in our way to finally escaping Hell's Gates was a legion of the undead. We now had eight people all clawing for freedom. John Leonard, Me (Tony Franks), Zoey Casterolli, Louis Bold, Bill Taylor, Toku, Francis Yeller (Ironic lastname isn't it?), and Heather. We were all battle hardened and would be fighting like never before, all we had to do was get to the roof.

"Come on man wake up!" Louis shook me.

"What's goin' on?" I asked.

"We are leavin' that's what," Francis said.

"Get your gear together than we need to move people!" Bill said. It was chaos, everyone was loading their weapons and yelling. Francis was eyeballing Zoey, I didn't like this one bit. I loaded my Desert Eagle, I loaded my M4 I put the LAW anti-tank rocket launcher on my back, I carried two missiles. My M4 still had the makeshift bayonet attached to it. We all stood, waiting at the door. We could hear growls I opened the door carefully. I walked out first. A hunter stood beside the door. IT WAS THAT SAME HUNTER WHO I HAVE STABBED SIX TIMES, SHOT THREE TIMES, LIT ON FIRE, AND WHACKED WITH A METAL ROD.

"grrr don't hurt grrr," it said.

"Holy ass you just talked!" I said. The infected could talk?

"grrr don't grrr shoot but grrr listen," it said. I had my finger on the trigger, I was ready at moment's notice to kill.

"Talk."

"My breth grrr ren lurk around every grr corner, unless you grrr want to grrr be killed and maimed grrr I suggest you follow me grrr Gerald."

"Gerald what?"

"Gerald ergh Frank grr s."

"Baby Bro?"

"It really grrr is you!" Gerald spoke.

"Okay, what's going on out there?" Francis asked, "some kind of vampire reunion?"

"And you must grrr be the Jack grrr ass I have been grrr hearing so much grrr about these grrr few grrr weeks," Gerald spoke. Yep, the way he treated Francis, and couldn't be killed by anything he was definitely a Franks!

"The first and only!" Francis said.

"We need to get to the rooftop, do you know how? I asked.

"Yes, let me come with you, when we get to the Military Base, I want to be tested on for a cure grrr," Gerald said. We walked through the Hospital. We went up the stairs when Zoey said, "Hey Bill, it's your favorite, stairs!"

"I'm getting too old for this," Bill replied.

"Come on Bill, it's good for you. Cardio!" Louis nagged. We walked down a hallway facing several zombies who we hoped wouldn't exist. We entered a big lobby like room. There was thudding. A Reaper burst through a door up on the balcony above. We opened fire. Gerald and the Ninja leapt onto the balcony above behind the reaper. The ninja hopped on it's back while Gerald leapt on front of it, right on it's head. The Reaper swung it's axe and Gerald jumped away, the blow from the axe decapitated the Reaper. That was very easy killing a behemoth that almost killed me. Gerald's eyes went red. His claws expanded and he went mad. He pounced a nearby smoker and started ripping out the various organs he seemed to love all the flow of blood and ripped out the organs until the Smoker let out one final cough and then was silenced. Gerald slit the throat. And threw the head off the balcony. It hit Francis who let out a terrified scream. We had to keep ourselves from laughing. It was clear that Francis was scared of my little brother.

"Now grrr then let's get the grrr out of here!" Gerald spoke. We went up some more stairs.

"It's clear to me, this hospital is designed to keep seniors from the roof," Bill said. We made it to what looked like some type of ER. We made a right, went through closed doors, which was a sign someone had been here recently and made it to an elevator. There was a random bed in a diagonal corner.

"You would think during a Zombie Apocalypse we would take the stairs," I said.

"Ha ha ha very funny," Bill replied.

"I hate elevators," Francis said. I faced the front, we all faced the front, ready for the horde. There was the sound of clawing, and two walls on our side broke. A smoker's tongue grabbed Bill.

"NO NO NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Bill yelled.

"I'm comin' keep your beard on!" Francis said. Francis shot the Smoker point blank with an semi automatic shotgun. "BOOM Headshot," Francis bragged.

"Do you have to always say boom headshot after you kill a smoker?" Bill asked.

"Why yes, yes I do!" Francis crudely responded. Bill watched one Flank while Francis the other. Zoey, Louis and I watched the middle. The ninja was out in the middle of the hallway, and when the hunter came, it was a classical ninja on ninja battle. The hunter pounced Toku who then kicked off the hunter. Toku drew his daggers and engaged the hunter in a slashing and stabbing war. The hunter attempted a jab. But Toku was swift as ninja he side-stepped and the hunter fell. Toku attempted a jab but that was met with the sharp claw of the hunter. The hunter kicked forward. Toku caught it and threw it back at him. This was like watching and old karate movie. The hunter made one fatal mistake. It lunged forward. Toku grabbed the arm mid flight and stabbed it. Gerald then pounced from the darkness and pinned the unfortunate hunter. He sliced through the stomach. Gerald grabbed the two armpits and ripped the skin off, then reached as far down as he could and removed the organs. He seemed crazy. Gerald ended by slitting the misfortunate hunter's throat.

_Ping Ping Ping, _the elevators doors slide open. The ninja dashes inside. I grab Heather off the bed and push her inside. I fire my M4 in short three shot bursts that bring down the infected. Louis dashes into the room with Francis behind him. Bill, Zoey, and I now hold the three flanks.

"Everyone in NOW!" I yell as I drag Zoey's hoodie into the elevator. Everyone was in. I pressed the button with the 28 next to it. Only twenty-four floors left to go!

"I hate vans. I hate the water. I hate helicopters. I hate hospitals and doctors and lawyers and cops," Francis explained.

"Francis is there anything you don't hate?" Bill asked.

"You know what I don't hate?" Francis, "I don't hate vest." I instantly thought of Mr. T in a golden vest. I feel bad for the poor guy who has to kill Arnold Shwartzenegger's infected form it will terminate you! Chuck Norris couldn't be a zombie though. Mostly because Chuck Norris can't die. He probably has the car alarm of his Mercedes Truck go off so he can fight a horde off with one roundhouse kick.

"I just can't get over how FAST they all are. It's not even fair! I'm calling Zombie Bullshit on that you know? (Giggles nervously) They're not...ALLOWED to be soo fast," Zoey complained. The elevator doors slid open. OMG ambush! Three hunters and a smoker popped out of the darkness. Bill, Louis, and Francis were pounced while I felt my feet being dragged. I fired 4 shots. I went to reload and I fell. Ah! Deja vou! I was being towards the edge. I hit the edge. My hands clamped the side. I stared down at the thirty stories fall. I gulped and used what little air was in my lungs to scream, " SOMEBODY! I'M GONNA FALL!" I felt the Smoker's tongue start to pull me. My palms were sweating and I started to slip. There was a shriek from the darkness. The tongue that wrapped around me fell off. I now could feel Earth's gravity sucking me down. I yelled a curse, "CURSE YOU BEN STEIN!" I don't know why but it was always better for me to blame scientists.

"Hold on I got you, you're not going to fall," a heavenly voice said, "now grab my hand." I reached out, just as my other hand slipped. The hand grabbed out. I yanked it and was thrown up the edge. It felt great to be back on solid ground. Thank you Zoey! I nodded a thank you to her and she grabbed my hand and pulled me up from my sitting position. We continued through the upstairs which appeared to be under construction. We reached the red door.

We were almost there! I felt like we should go now. My body's aching quickly killed that thought. We got a bonfire going. It's fierce flames flickered in the scarcity of life engulfing the air around us. The flames made us feel safer. Zombies hate fire. Zoey scooted close next to me. Heather sat in my lap. Silence filled the air. Everyone knew that tommorow was judgement day. Whether a radio was there or not didn't matter. If it was, the real problem would be surviving the endless horde. Gerald slid over to my other side.

"_Wow bro, never did think you would actually find a mate,_" Gerald said.

"_Hey, you finally stopped saying grrr during every sentence,_" I replied.

"_Yeah, I remembered my old foreign language."_

"_What do you mean by mate?" I asked in a hushed whisper._

"_Oh come on," Gerald nagged, "you and the only female, Zoey."_

"_Don't you get any ideas!"_

"_I haven't the slightest clue what you are talking about, I found me a mate."_

"_Who a female hunter? Make little huntlets? They practice pouncing rabbits?"_

"_Ha ha ha very funny. There are not female hunters, just a witch for me. Her names Trixie and she's hiding on the roof."_

"_What's it like being a hunter?"_

"_It's hard at first but then it grows easy over time. We all can talk it's just that hunger drives us to animal-like attacks. We need to find food or else we are drivin' to a large animalistic rage. Everyone including ourselves is likely to be injured and most likely killed. A mate gives us a strength unknown to us before."_

"_So you use love to get stronger?"_

"_Well, yes, but we retain all our former emotions, love is merely joy but on a two people, not an individual."_

"_I never knew you were poetic."_

"_I'm not, Chuck Norris just told me to tell you that."_

"_CHUCK NORRIS KNOWS WHO I AM?"_

"_NAH, HE JUST CHEATED WHILE I WAS HIS PET BEFORE HE ROUNDHOUSE KICKED ME FROM OKLAHOMA TO OHIO."_

"_Why are whispering so loudly?"_

"_I DON'T KNOW."_

Zoey stood up. She had told me on before occasions that if anything bad happens with Francis she can fend for herself. They yelled at eachother, first Zoey, "IF I'VE TOLD YOU ONCE, I HAVE TOLD YOU A THOUSAND TIMES, I'M NOT INTERESTED IN YOU!"

"YEAH, BECAUSE WHEN YOU SEE A WITCH YOU FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE BEEN MISSING SOMETHING!" Francis screamed back.

"YOU CALLING ME A LESBO?" Zoey returned with a question.

"I AINT' CALLIN YOU TO DINNER," Francis responded.

"WHAT?"

"THIS IS WHAT ZOE!" with that, he pimp slapped Zoey across the face. Zoey let out a small shriek and scampered over next to me whimpering. She put her head in my chest, I covered it with my hand while my other one stroked her. I didn't allow Francis even near her. She clearly wanted to be alone. Gerald came over to me. He took Heather, who was still on my lap and did a sort of pounce/jump over next to Bill. He gently sat her down. Heather scooted back over to me but sat on my left. Gerald then came over and acted like he was gonna eat her foot. She laughed and tried to kick him away.

Zoey got off of my chest and sat to my right she grabbed my arm and pulled me towards her. I scooted.

Bill pulled out the rations for our final meal. It was canned beef and corn. Gerald pried open the can with his claws then jabbed the meat and shoved it into his mouth. He did this repeatedly as if in a pattern. I slowly ate the meal. I let the beef's moisture help soothe my soul. The meaty was very chewy. It was like eating a protein, fat and meat filled gummy candy. I chewed slowly to absorb the flavor. The corn was rather crunchy but had no buttery or salty flavor to it like it used to... before the infection. I reminsced my life shortly after the first infection. _I opened my mail box for apartment 801 of Arrowhead apartments Fairfield, Ohio. I ran upstairs to my small two bedroom one bath apartment. I was met with a slobbery kiss from my dog Yax. I flipped the T.V. on. I changed the channel to Weasel News. Apparently scientists from Fairfield Tech labs had released a super rabis disease that was quickly spreading. My parents arrived at the door shortly later. I opened the door. My mom was in her police uniform and my father was in his Marine BDU. They carried SMG's in their hands. Pistols were at their sides. 'Come on Tony, we got to move.' my mother said. We scurried down a fire escape with my dog and into the street. My mom, dad, Yax, and I entered a dark building. I would never see them again. I felt glad because I felt inside that Yax was alive. Zombies don't attack or eat dogs. Just snakes and monkeys. The last thing I had said to my parents was 'You guys are slowing us down. You should be left behind!' _A tear rolled down my cheek.

"What's wrong?" Zoey asked.

"Nothing," I replied.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Zoey asked.

"No," I replied. She kissed me on the side of my hair. I kissed her back on the lips. Gerald came over.

"Could you give us some privacy?" Gerald asked Zoey.

"Anything you say to my tiddlywinks you can say to me," Zoey responded.

"In that case, I think you should cut Zoey's rations down! She's putting on weight!" He yelled jokingly.

"Uh, why must I be the one picked on the most?" Zoey asked to no one in particular. She walked away.

"What was it you want to talk about?" I asked.

"Yo bro, what is it that we do now? Could we put out the fire? I'm highly flammable and will continuely burn if lit on fire," Gerald asked.

"Sure, it's time for sleep now," we doused the fire with water. And drifted to sleep.

R+R


	8. Chapter 8: Journey

Everything that was asked of us we'd done. Every night we'd hide in a room prayin' the enemy won't slit our throats. Everyday we spent running through the streets and buildings while the horde screamed around us. But we didn't have to put our lives on the line much longer. This was our last leg. We reach the Mercy Hospital rooftop we go home. All of us.

I blinked heavily. My mind clicked itself on. I yawned and my vision was still clouded with the darkness of sleep. This was the last turn of the race. We are almost to the roof, almost HOME! The only thing between us was a legion of the undead. I felt them roaming the bowels of this hospital. I blinked once more and I fully opened my eyes. It was pitch-black for a second while my eyes adjusted to the dim lighting. Gerald was on top of a set of boxes staring mournfully out the door. I had to keep in mind, he may have some humanities left in his departing soul but for the most part he was largely animalistic. He needed space. I thought of putting a leash on him and taking him for a walk. He wasn't a dog! My brain argued back. He was in a sort of pouncing position on top of the boxes which made him look like a gargoyle. But I doubt Gothic Christians would want a zombie on top of their Cathedral. Everyone was asleep except us. I polished my weapon, this may be one of the last times I do this. I packaged some hamburgers we found up and stored them with the rest of our food. On a nearby table rested two pipe bombs and two molotovs cocktails my favorite Russian beverage but was never intended for me. I took the bottle and poured kerosene into it. I then put a sock in it tying the end to prevent it from falling out. I grabbed Bill's lighter to ignite the Russki drink with it. I hid it in my pocket for later.

Louis woke up a short time later. He grabbed his M-16 off the table and held it at his side. Bill and Zoey woke up minutes later followed by Francis and John. We collected ourselves and woke up Heather. She sighed a little bit. Toku was already awake I just didn't seem him right away. He is Ninja, and like I knew Ninjas don't need sleep. I slowly took the bar off the door. I then pushed the steel door open. Leonard took point with his semi-automatic shotgun. A zombie sat on the stairs. He quickly got hit square in the face with a lead slug, completely cleaving off the head. We went up more stairs.

"CHRIST! HOW MANY GOD DAMN STAIRS ARE THERE?" Bill asked no one in particular.

"I looked at the map last night, we are going to climb 20 more flights of stairs, Louis joked.

"Not funny," Bill replied.

"But seriously, this is the last staircase we need to climb. We climbed the stairs and saw a long dark hallway, just what you want to see when you're near the end of the dementia. We walked down the hallway and when a couple of yellow crossing signs appeared we turned left. In front of us was a deep elevator shaft. I bashed a zombie until it descended into the abyss. Crying was heard.

"Shit that's a witch!" Francis exclaimed. Our flashlights instinctively went off.

"_That's her!" _Gerald whispered to me. Gerald leapt away from us. He landed on the next level. Talking could be heard. The voice of a young woman could be heard. The aggressiveness of the infection could be heard tinted in her voice. "Humans?" The voice asked, "there are still some alive?"

"Yes, my brother is here as well. If you want, we can take you away from this. Away from from all this death," Gerald spoke. Gerald then leapt back to where we were, the witch in his hands. Trixie, his mate, looked like any other Witch except she had a tint of red in her hair.

"Through here!"John shouted. He removed the cover of a vent. We crouched through it. We appeared to be on some type of matenance shaft. We climbed a ladder than gazed at the greatest sight I had ever seen. Open air. We climbed up this ladder and we made it. WE WERE AT THE ROOF! We jumped to the helipad. I kissed the ground we stood on. Rabies had a horrible taste. We killed some zombies then I heard the best sound I ever heard.

"Hello? This is News Copter Five to Mercy Hospital does anyone copy?" YES RESCUE! We ran to where the radio sounded from.

"Hello?" I asked onto the intercom.

"You made it! Rescue is coming but first you need to prepare. There should be a mounted gun and some supplies around. Call me back when you're ready. This is News Chopper Five out!" I opened a door and climbed some stairs.

"No, I'm not climbing that!" Bill yelled up. I reached the roof of the small shack. There was a mounted .50 caliber chain gun like they use in Blackhawk Helicopters.

"Now **This **is a big ass machine gun!" Louis commented. Louis went back down stairs. I grabbed two propane tanks and threw them to the front and side of the machine gun. I then grabbed two fuel tanks and threw them right in the center lane where they are mostly likely to come. I put the other one down in case this position was overrun. Zoey watched my back, Francis my left and John my right. Bill covered Louis's back while he manned the radio.

"CALL HIM IN!" I yelled to Louis. He called the chopper. An ominous roar was heard. Here they come. I spooled up the chain gun. The first batch of zombie berserkers rushed us. I fired a small burst and they tore apart the group. The gun glew red. I stopped firing and the chain gun cooled. Another group rushed. A saw a small patch of green smoke hanging on the roof. "SMOKER!" I yelled. It was too late, Zoey was pulled off the roof. I fired a burst at the smoker. It tore him apart and the resulting poof of smoke jettisoned him off the roof. His ragdoll body descended into the surrounding city. A horde surrounded Zoey, I dealt with them first. A Reaper was heard coming. I saw it appear. I opened fire, we all fired at once, each shot was a headshot. The Reaper quickly collapsed. Another group came in we continued to hold. A second Reaper came. We continued firing. It did not slump, it had a bony shield in front of it blocking our shots. I hit the propane tank, the new type of Reaper shrugged off the explosion like it was nothing. I grabbed he Molotov out of my pocket and threw it at the fuel tank. See, I have this theory on the pyrotechnics of zombies, FIRE+FUEL TANK= MORE FIRE+ZOMBIES= DOZENS OF MURDERS. The Reaper who was now fully ablaze continued rushing. It did a hop and leapt onto the roof. I did the equation again with MORE FIRE! We ran down stairs. Once it reached us, Gerald pounced it in the face while on fire, Gerald started hacking away. Trixie came and sawed off where the Axe was and where the shield was. We combined our fire. The Reaper slumped over dead.

"Ow," Gerald commented, "now I know what it feels like to be a smore!" He stopped burning.

"THE CHOPPER'S HERE LET'S GO!" Louis yelled. I threw open the door. We took off running towards the descending chopper, a horde behind us. Another reaper came, it saw the chopper and knew what was going to happen, it's eyes locked on the chopper. I knew what I must do. I hated it and will never forgive myself for it but it had to be done.

"GO!" I yelled to the other survivors. I handed Heather to Zoey. I rushed at the Reaper and knocked him backwards. It roared in frustration. All the survivors other than myself were aboard. "GO! GET OUT OF HERE! SAVE YOURSELVES!" I yelled.

"NOOOO! NOT WITHOUT YOU!" Zoey yelled back.

"YOU HAVE NO CHOICE! YOU MUST SAVE YOURSELVES, SAVE THE WORLD. DON'T LET MY SACRIFICE BE IN VAIN!" the pilot shut the doors. The chopper started to leave. Good, they made it. The Reaper yelled I anger. It's prey was soo close but now was spoiled. It hefted it's leg up and kicked me. I felt myself fly. I gazed down and saw it had punted me off No Mercy Hospital. I felt my ribs cracked, I blacked out.

(Zoey POV)

_No!_ My head screamed at myself. My plans! He was going to be my happily married husband! Father of my children! We were going to spend all of eternity together. I wanted to leap out of this helicopter and save him from his certain death.

"Zoey are you okay?" Bill asked.

"I'm fine," I responded. I was not fine.

"Jee-zus we made it! I can't believe we actually made it!" Louis said.

"He saved us from the infection" Bill spoke, "He sacrificed himself so we could live. He died... a soldier's death. May God shine upon him and his noble sacrifice."

"He isn't dead," I denied, "Tony never dies."

"You loved him didn't you?" John asked.

"No, after all he didn't stand up for me," I responded.

"If there's one thing I learned about my brother these past day, is that he had undying love for you. And even in death, that love will continue," Gerald added. Rain fell from the sky outside. Almost as if God himself shed his merciful tears. I looked throughout the chopper, Heather was crying. I beckoned for her to come over and join me. She nodded and sat next to me. She rested her head in my lap. She had a low painful moan as she stared out the window at the endless city below. Yes, Tony had died a hero.

To be continued? (check status for a clue)

R+R


	9. Chapter 9: Death's Toll

Chap: 9

Death's Toll

Everything hurt. Wait, everything hurt! I'm alive! I opened my eyes. I was lying in the dirt far away from the lights of Fairfield. I saw a safehouse in a building ahead. I crawled over to the steps. I attempted to stand up but fell. A sharper pain than I had ever felt was stabbing it's way through my leg. I heard speaking inside. I used what energy I had left to yell, "Hello?" footsteps stammered around.

"What the hell?" a soldier bearing the rank of First Lieutenant asked.

"By God you actually survived!" an older man said. He wore standard army BDUs. There were two other soldiers in the room besides the soldier and the old guy. "Zoey was right, you never do die Franks," It was Bill. Zoey! Just her name filled my heart with joy.

"Oh yeah Zoey. She was the one who scared the Commander until he sent a search team. God, I'm never gonna let that go," a medic said.

"Quit your blubberin' Ackerson and get over here," Bill commanded. Ackerson came over to me. He gave me some type of pain pills. They dragged me into the room. They opened my leg up and observed it like a textbook.

"Well, considering you fell 30 stories, hit a tree, and then smacked into the ground, you're lucky to be alive at all," the medic said. Yeah, to hear that from a medic was real _reassuring. _"It could take about 8 hours until you're battle ready again," he spoke. Great, eight hours of painful surgery and medication.

(Zoey POV)

I didn't sleep very much if at all these past few days. Tony couldn't be dead. I denied anyone who said he fought his last fight. Through good and bad he always made it out alive. Many of the men in this camp hit on me day in and day out. My heart was to Tony and I would never pledge it to anyone else. The commander of the U.S. soldiers here sent a search team out three days ago to the Riverside area. I had to scream at Mr. Brigadier General John Dewey before he sent three soldiers with Bill as the lead. Bill had said he wanted to see Tony for himself. Life here at the camp is glamorous but it's better than Fairfield. We all lived in tents and ate at the Mess Hall. It was on an island so there were zombie attacks. Fortunately there was also a farm which supplies us with food. Louis comes in every now and again to check on me. Heather and I have a tent together and Louis, Bill and Francis have a tent together. There is an empty cot in here which hopefully one day will be used.

Francis leaves me alone often now. And the other moods of the other survivors are in a normal, depressed manner. Heather will wake up at night crying. She actually speaks to me now and only me. She says different things such as 'Daddy come back,' I don't know if this means Tony or who else, 'Zoe wakey upy' she wakes me up the few times I sleep to go outside with her, 'outside?' Heather loves going outside and playing in the river. She would splash in the water and try to grab the many trout and carp that would swim in the water. Heather will occasionally spot the infected at the other side of the river at noon, I almost never see it, Heather does that yelp thing, "Erp!" It's head will explode. She is a bundle full of joy and I just wish Tony was here to play with her and me. He thought of Heather as a daughter. I now realize why he did. It is impossible to hate her. I sometimes will style her hair in different ways for fun. My favorite and her favorite is a very simple long hair that goes down past her shoulders. Recently as a gift for her, when I went out to the river to see if a boat carrying Tony aboard was coming I spotted something in the water. I picked it up and it was a small shiny toy boat. She loved that toy since it was her one and only next to her teddy bear and bible. I think at night she prays because she will come over to me and grab my flashlight. While my eyes are closed I hear her flipping through pages. I hear her then close the bible. She puts her hand on it and I barely hear her whisper, "_please God, bring him back." _I know in my heart though he is not dead.

(Original POV)

A good seven hours passed until enough surgery had been preformed on my leg for me to stand, a few minutes later, and I could walk in a limp. I limped back and forth getting used to my new leg. The medic gave me some pain killers which now results in my leg being numb. I grabbed my M9 out of it's hollister since all my other weapons were gone.

"I'm sorry son but we don't have any other weapons on us right now," Bill said. That was fine by me, for now. They formed a diamond around me the medic with a semi-automatic shotgun to the front, Bill in the back and two privates named Brooks and Gibson to my sides. They carried M-4 assault rifles. We opened the red door and stepped into a warehouse of sorts. We killed the few zombies in it then stepped outside. We formed a firing line as the horde came close. They were easily cut down with little trouble. My M9 had decent stopping power to it against common infected. Brooks's nickname was AN (Anti-Ninja) for his ability to kill Hunters. We called Gibson The Mark because is first name was Mark and he was a deadeye with a sniper rifle. The medic, Ackerson's nickname was patches because he could patch you up. All the soldiers in the group were heavily armed with items from chocolate bars to Anti-Tank mines. We came to a house which had bunkers with a Humvee out front. It must have been awesome having your house being a military base. That was, until the infected broke the line.

We entered the house, I grabbed a pump shotgun from the table. A hunter tried to claw through the door, it was met with a mouthful of lead from my shotgun. Boy was it nice to have a twelve gauge in my hands again. We went outside and came to a large open area. A Humvee, a van and a car lie in the middle of the area. We proceeded forth with caution. We went up a trail which led to a river. By the time we reached the boat house, I was out of breath. I saw on the table an M-16 Assault Rifle. It may not be the most modern rifle but it still worked well enough for me! I grabbed it and an extra pistol from the table. It was dark and on the handle was engraved, _T Lockwood. _ Whoever T Lockwood is, thanks for letting me borrow your pistol! We walked to the Jetty where we created a formidable chokepoint. Most zombies will want to run at us straight down the middle allowing us to concentrate our fire which in turn wiped out vast groups of infected. Brooks, our fastest runner told the boat to come and get us. He then took off running. We placed some mines at the front of the jetty. That ought to start the show! The horde screamed from all corners of the darkness. A large group came straight down the jetty, they were completely disintegrated. Bill put down a deployable M60 light machine gun on it's tripod on the ground. I lay down and mounted it, as the horde approached, I quickly cut them down. _Thud thud thud thud thud thud THUD THUD __**THUD THUD! **_The sound of heavy footsteps approached. A Reaper chucked a piece of stone out from the ground. It flew past us striking a boomer, who's vomit landed on a hunter who then in it's blindness pounced a smoker resulting in a massive horde hitting the special infected. The reaper started to come close,

"NOW!" Bill yelled. They fired their LAW rockets at the Reaper which effectively made it fish food. Again came a horde. I threw a pipe bomb I found towards the house. When it exploded, a support beam broke resulting in part of the balcony falling off, killing many more. I could hear the radio on my headset, "I can see the shore! We are coming in." Another Reaper approached, we fired our rockets again. They killed the Reaper. _Fonk Fonk! _I could hear the boat's horn. We held our position on the dock. The boat arrived, I scurried aboard. Bill followed and Ackerson followed him with Gibson behind him. As Brooks came to board, a smoker's tongue shot from the darkness and pulled him under the dock. It held him underwater. At least he would die of drowning, I told myself. The boat sailed away. Zombies tried to follow but when they got the water level to their mouth they ran away. Attempting to get to dry land. It was humorous to watch 10 feet long mutated Bass dart from the water and clamp on zombies pulling them out to sea. I stared at the moon. I felt, at this camp, Zoey was staring at the same moon. Bill sat next to me. He looked at my leg.

"Zoey was right," he said, "you never die."

"Yeah I just cripple myself by flying ten miles through the air from thirty stories high skipping off trees like rocks off the water," I responded.

"Everyone survived that day because of you. When we get back, I'm putting you in for a promotion, a silver star, and about 30 purple hearts," Bill commented.

"They should be red because after all those injuries that's the only color that I know of now," I replied. The boat came to a large island. It docked at the port. I hopped off the boat and onto the pier. It was night, but from what I could tell, there were tents and quonset huts from WWII. Bill led me to my tent, I tiredly walked inside and fell asleep, free at last!

I awoke the next morning at ten after a nice, long sleep. There were three cots in the large tent. There was plenty of space for a television, a radio, a small table, and storage space. I walked outside and yawned. I walked up a gravel hill and took a warm shower. I don't know which was dirtier, the water from my shower or San Fransisco Bay. I dressed myself in my now cleaned uniform. I walked to river where I saw a woman playing with a young girl. The young girl had a shiny toy boat. I sat on the sandy banks and stared at the sky. I wish I could see Zoey again. The young girl walked over to me.

"Daddy, it really is you!" she shouted, she hugged me tightly. I recognized the girl as Heather. The woman walked over and looked at my face.

"By God," she gasped, "it really is you!"

"Yep, I'm me," I responded.

"Don't you remember me?" She asked.

"Umm... Are you that one person from that one place?" I asked vaguely.

"It's me Zoey!" Zoey exclaimed. Zoey looked so much different now. She no longer wore her red hoodie but instead just her white tank top and jeans.

"Have you seen my brother?" I asked. She nodded and beckoned for me to follow her. We walked up a long trail to a small cabin at the top of the hill. I held open the door and we walked inside. Inside it was a bright room that appeared to be a lab. Gerald lie on a table.

"Well I'll be damned if it is really big Tony," He said, "How did you survive?"

"The ground broke my fall," I responded.

"Doctor Rieck here has some good news for you bro," Gerald said. A woman with braided brown hair wearing a white lab coat approached me.

"Major Franks?" she asked.

"ATTENTION!" I stood at attention and snapped a salute.

"At ease," she ordered, I loosened, "We have discovered a cure, it's just that, well I don't know how to say this. It's in Metro City." I had a feeling I was returning to hell for a cure to the infection. "I already spoke with your Commander and he has assigned you and your group of survivors for such a mission. He said to tell him whenever you're ready." Yep, I was returning to Hell. With this I walked outside. I was in for a large surprise. A man and a woman awaited at the bottom of the path.

"Hello there Tony," my mouth threw itself open. At the path were my two parents and my dog Yax. Heather ran at me. "doggy" she told me. Zoey came outside.

"Surprise!" Zoey yelled. I collapsed to the ground and fainted.

R+R


	10. Chapter 10: Time in the Town

Chapter 10

I heard a gurgling noise. A splash of cold water slapped me in the face. I coughed and stood up. My two parents were there standing in the sunshine of the new day. Heather sat beside me in the grass. She was playing with Yax, the Beagle. She would pick up a nearby stick and throw it in no specific direction. When Yax would come back with the stick in his mouth Heather would crawl away, resulting in Yax chasing her. Zoey stood next to me.

"_I knew you would come back," _she whispered into my ear. She kissed the side of my neck.

"So it's true," My father who was a few years younger the Bill said, "my son really can't die. Also, he found long lost Gerald, hmph."

"Yeah, that's me," I spoke sheepishly, "your son who found Gerald and his mate."

"Yeah, the Witch," my mother spoke in a raggedy voice.

"No Doc, I don't have pneumonia!" Gerald shouted into the lab, "Yes I'm sure! NO! I am not gay! What do you mean the Witch is a male? Don't call me a fancy _HomoHootonius! _There's no such thing as a Man-Witch!"

"Yeah there is! We had one last night!" Louis shouted at Gerald.

"Ha ha very funny!" Gerald commented. "Fine! I'll take the Friggin' blood test! Just get off my back woman! Sheesh!" A hand reached from inside the cabin and pulled Gerald in. Tonight would be the night he hates the most, bath night.

"You got any plans?" my dad asked me.

"No," I responded, Zoey elbowed me in the ribs. "_Ow what was that for?" _I whispered in her ear.

"_We've got plans," _She whispered back.

"Soooo...," Mom stammered, "No plans?"

"Nope noooo plans," I replied.Zoey stomped on my foot. "Argh!" I screamed in a pained voice, "I almost forgot, we do have plans." My parents looked at the ground. "You could come with us," I added. They perked up. "_What were those plans," _I whispered into Zoey's ear.

"_The same thing that's not going on in our tent tonight," _Zoey responded. I was confused.

"_We were gonna eat Ice Cream?" _I asked. She shook her head. Damn, I thought for sure I was right I mean what else was there?

"So, what'll we be doing Son?" Dad asked.

"We will be um...," I stammered, "spending the day with Heather." We walked to the sandy river bank. Heather took her shiny boat which she named Joboat out and set it in the water. I started to build the walls on the sand castle. The sun's heat was beating down on my back while I built the "Outer Walls". I dug a moat in the front. I heard a scream. I looked around. Zoey was frozen in shock. My parent's mouths were a gape. I looked at Heather. She was being pulled away with the river's current. I took off my shirt and dove in after her. I swam as fast as I could. She was just a few feet away. Something bolted out of the water. Heather was swept out of the water. The thing landed on land. It let out a scream through the air. I tried swimming to shore, the current was too strong. Every time I got close, it pulled me out to the river again. I felt something grab hold of my torso. I felt myself fly through the air. I hit the ground with a thud. I was laid next to Heather.

"I am such a good person," Gerald said. He grinned.

"You aren't really a person," I said.

"Yeah, well back in Fairfield you stabbed me, lit me on fire, shot me, and whacked me with a metal pole! And after all this, I saved you and your little girl!" Gerald said.

"True dat!" I replied, "but I did get you out of Hell alive!"

"You almost had an **EPIC FAIL!" **Gerald said, epic and fail were said in low bass tone.

"You owe anyway."

"And why was that?"

"Because my Baby Bro was dead," I joked.

"Yeah, that would be horrible for me to die."

"You get used to it."

"I wouldn't," Gerald concluded. Heather rose to her feet. She ran over to me and I mounted her on my shoulders. Trixie came over to Gerald.

"Come with me," she said in rasping voice.

"OOOOHH going to make Huntlets?" I called after them.

"Shut up," Gerald replied.

"Oooh things are getting spicy!" I called out.

"No they ain't," Gerald defended. Trixie led him into the medical lab at the top of the hill. Heather on my shoulders I jogged back to the beach. Zoey and the others were scanning the river. Bill, Francis, and Louis had now joined them. I snuck up behind Zoey.

"**Did you find me yet?" **I joked in a deep voice. Zoey jumped.

"DAH! Argh, Tony!" Zoey sputtered.

"Oh great, what did I do this time?" I asked.

"Your sand castle was destroyed by hostile invaders," Bill told me. I looked at the ruins of my castle. Four crabs scattered when I loomed over.

"NOOOOOO! CASTLE LE' GRANGE!" I mourned for my castle's loss. Francis laughed.

"I'm not as dumb as you think!" Francis spoke.

"What did you do this time?" I asked him.

"Those crabs aren't just any crabs," he explained, "they're actually NINJA CRABS! Trained under the toughest conditions to carry out sand sabotage missions. You're castle will fall!" Francis started building his own castle. I started rebuilding mine.

"Spoon!" I called Zoey, she had a confused look on her face and handed me a spoon. With some nearby sticks and a rubber band I created a catapult which I placed at the top of the lander. I took two nearby different types of crabs than the ninja ones and gave them sharpened sticks and a piece of bark. "My Crusader Crabs of Castle Le' Grange II shall destroy the Ninja Crabs of weird Francis castle!" I explained to Francis, "I shall start accepting your unconditional surrender."

"Ha ha haaaaa! You shall never destroy us! Ninja Crabs attack!" The Ninja Crabs and the Crusader Crabs went towards eachother. I loaded the catapult with a rock on top of the large castle tower. I pulled a stick and the rock flew hitting a Ninja Crab in the claw. Part of the Claw chipped. The pointy spears and shield of the Crusader Crabs against the claws and superior strength of the Ninja Crabs were put to the extreme. Claw on stick the crabs clashed. All of the sudden, the crabs stopped fighting.

"Fighting is wrong, we should all be friends," one Crusader Crab said to a Ninja Crab.

"You are soo right Darelle, we are all crabs, we should love and respect one another, like the Humans!" The Ninja crab responded. If only they understood the Irony of that.

"But you are loving and respecting one another like Humans!" Francis called to his Ninjas as they entered the water.

"I do concur, you Humans are a very violent species," The educated crab concluded, "and to that I say good day ma'am!" The crabs hopped into the water, you could hear them talking, as the current took them away. "Wanna go nibble on some Humans with the Homozombonius disease?"

"Alright I'll bite," Louis said, "what the hell just happened?"

"Son, I think crabs just dissed Humanity," Bill explained. Frickin' CRABS just insulted Humanity. Why couldn't we be like crabs and settle our differences peacefully but CRABS who you see fight all types of wildlife just became pacifists? The sun now began to set over the hills of Hell or as it used to be, Fairfield.

I started a fire. By now I had dried and put my white shirt back on. Gerald and Trixie joined us moments later.

"Why does Doctor Rieck need to take sooo many blood samples?" Gerald asked.

"Because, she confuses your blood with something else. Thinking a liquid piece of ugly just fell off you!" I explained.

"No then he would want your blood sample," Gerald fired back.

"Ooooh back burn!" Trixie acknowledged.

"Yeah Gerald, well at least my woman has a pulse," I returned.

"WE HAVE PULSES! YOU JUST CAN'T HEAR, SEE, FEEL, SMELL, OR TASTE!" Gerald argued.

"YOU'RE A WITCH?" Zoey asked.

"No you are!" Gerald returned with an unintended insult. Zoey smiled sheepishly. She sat down on a log next to the fire. "Next person Next person! Stand up and test your burnage skills against the ultimate burnage hunter and his burning Witch!" Gerald called a Carnival Game announcer.

"I'll take you down," Francis rose to the challenge.

"So you're the awesome biker who's not afraid of anything and is invincible?" Gerald taunted.

"Yeah, that's me," Francis responded.

"I'll bet you're just a big baby," Trixie joined in.

"I'll bet your mom's a big baby," Francis horribly attempted a burnage, the other two looked at him awkawardly, "What? I'm starting out simple."

Gerald pounced him. Gerald claws expanded, his eyes red. He glared into Francis's eyes. Francis screamed like a frightened school girl.

"Next," Gerald said, he got off Francis, his claws retracted, his eyes went yellow, and his voice less vicious. He smirked.

Louis rose, "It's over for your dignity now!"

"You love your pills don't you Louis?" Gerald asked.

"No, that is sooo Fairfield," Louis responded.

"Then you won't mind if I do this?" Gerald asked as he snatched Louis's pills. Louis threw him to the ground and pinned Gerald to the ground. Louis resnatched his pills then socked Gerald in the gut.

"DON'T YOU EVER TAKE MEH PEELS! ONLY I CAN GRAB DEM' PEELS!" Louis screamed. He got off of Gerald who whimpered and crawled towards the fire. He sat in a log seat. I sat next to Zoey and Heather sat on my knee. Francis sat on his own, Bill and Louis sat next to eachother . Trixie and Gerald sat next to eachother on the log to my left. Gerald rocked back and forth in the fetal position.

"_You okay?" _I whispered to Zoey. I didn't want Zoey's feelings to be hurt.

"_I'm fine," _Zoey whispered back.

"_Are you sure, I...," _I asked.

"_Seriously I am fine!" _Zoey elbowed me in the ribs. She was tougher than she might look.

"Hey I remember you!" Bill said to my dad who sat near the fire.

"Huh?" He asked.

"Mark Franks right? M+M? Mini Mark?"Bill asked.

"Yeah, how do you know my nickname?" my father asked.

"Remember me? BB? Boring Bill from Vietnam?" Bill tried to remind him.

"HA HA!" Gerald laughed, "your name was Mini Mark, Dad?"

"No comment," I heckled.

"Yeah your dad was quite the midget when he was a soldier just barely passing the 58 inch height requirement," Bill explained.

"Ahhh, good times, gooood times," my father remembered. Zoey leaned her head against me.

"_I love you," _Zoey whispered into my ear.

"_I... know," _I whispered back. Honestly this was music to my ears but, I was inprepared with a response. 'I know' is all I could think. I loved her, but I had never said so. She continued to lean on me. Heather lay down in my lap. "Great," I commented, "I've become the human cot!"

"You poor man," Francis pitied.

"What's wrong with that?" I asked, "we're a closely related group, sort of, kinda, average, a little bit." Francis shrugged. Louis snuggled up to the one he was next to... his pills. Bill reminsced with my dad. My mom sat alone, disbanded from the group. And finally Trixie rested her head in Gerald's lap. The flames flickered in the darkness of night. An atmosphere clouded the area. I heard coughing. I dismissed it, the fire had smoke, someone probably just inhaled it. Now there was sputtering. I looked again. The stars shined in the dark blanket of sky. Almost like small holes in a black sheet. There was gasping for air. Now I was nervous. Zoey seemed to have fallen asleep. Louis was reading his pills. Heather was gasping for air.

"Oh God, she's going into shock. I grabbed her and took off running up to the lab which was also a hospital. I kicked open the door. Dr. Rieck sat a desk. She noticed Heather in my arms. "Hurry, she is having trouble breathing," Rieck's assistant had me wait outside. I wanted to get in there to be by her side. But when two people who out weigh you by about 300 pounds. The last thing I heard was, "She's going into CAD start compression NOW!"


	11. Chapter 11: The Beginning of the War

Chap: 11

Ready for War

I paced back and forth outside. I had attempted to bust down the door to get in except they barred it from the other side. I hope they didn't do what I did to avoid the Tanks at the safehouses in Fairfield. If they put Trash cans in the way all was lost. I wanted to be in there with Heather and her final moments. Zoey approached me, she yawned, "_*Yawn* you comin' to the tents?" _She asked sleepily. I shook my head. They would have to cut off my legs to get me to leave from this spot. Zoey left. I continued my pacing which had started to dig a trench from the same route back and forth. Zoey came back with two bags in her hands.

"What are those?" I asked.

"Sleeping bags," she responded, "if you won't leave, then I'll stay here." she pulled open her sleeping bag and fell asleep in it shortly afterwards. I sat down and watched the front door. I just gonna wait here until they open it. Dr. Rieck opened the door.

"You can come in now," she spoke. I pulled the door open all the way and stepped inside. The inside air felt cool against my wet, sweaty skin. The first thing I noticed was all the machinery that was in the room. Heather lie on a cot. A plastic mask covered her mouth. Her eyes were closed and her arms were laid across her body.

"How's she doing?" I asked. I prayed this wasn't the way she would be buried.

"Well, we got her out of CAD and her breathing standarized again. It's just that, well, I don't know how to tell you this but... Heather has contracted Homoniuszombonius, and without immediate treatment she could develop the severe medical epidemic called superbliounouscatratomy or the super rabies disease. She could mutate into a zombie," Dr. Rieck explained. I was absolutely mortified by the thought of this.

"What treatment is this you speak of?" I asked.

"Few people know of this but, if you receive treatment within approximately 48 hours of noticing the symptoms you have a slim chance of recovery. I have a small dose of treatment for this but, if I operate you need to do a favor for me," Rieck offered.

"Anything," I would risk anything to help my daughter.  
"You must go to the Metro City grab the cure from the labs of Metropolis University. Your way out is through a Military pickup via plane," Rieck explained. Great, now I would have to kill some zombie hillbillys (No offense). Dr. Rieck took out a small needle and stabbed it into Heather's arm. She pushed the plunger. I could see the green liquid quickly disappear into Heather's arm.

"How long until this cure kicks in?"

"About one hour," Dr. Rieck concluded. I had just enough time to go and see the Commander or in other words Brigadier General John Dewey. I exitted the lab. I walked a good distance to arrive at the CO's HQ. I pushed aside the tent flaps. General Dewey sat on a desk. He saw then stood up. I snapped a salute at the hero of so many survivors.

"At ease," he spoke. He sounded like Captain Keyes from an old game back in the earlier 2000's. "I'm guessing Dr. Rieck told you of our action we're about to take?" he asked.

"I heard the part about going to Metro City," I replied. Dewey nodded.

"Yes, you have the most experience against these zombie things compared to the rest of us. That is why I chose you to lead this operation. We're giving you command of a total six men. You can pick six people other than me or the doctor from anywhere in this camp and we'll give you command of them. If there are any survivors left in Metro City, radio in and we'll make sure we don't send a Kiowa Warrior. Also we're giving you top grade military stuff for this operation. After you gather those who are coming with you make a stop at the armory and grab the weapons you're bringing with you then haul over to the helipad for transport," Dewey explained. I saluted again then left the tent. I knew exactly who was going to come with me. First I went to see Heather. I opened the door of the lab and saw Heather sitting up on the cot. She ran over and threw a hug onto me. I grabbed her hand and thanked the good doctor then walked outside. Zoey was still asleep on the sleeping bag. I woke her up. She yawned.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I have something I wanted to ask you," explained.

"What is it?" she asked, she noticed Heather next to me, "she really must be your daughter because SHE can't die either!"

"I am going to Metro City to find the cure. The general said I could take six others with me. Heather already wants to come with me and I wanted to know if you would want to come also," I explained.

"HELL YEAH!" she yelled, I jumped when I heard this she was very, very loud, "if you are going I'm coming too." She followed me as I walked to the tent filled with Bill, Louis, and Francis. They were watching some show featuring women with very revealing clothing. If I wasn't already committed to Zoey I would have gladly plopped down and watched this show.

"Hey guys, wanna go kill some zombies?" I asked.

"Alright, sure," they said in unison. Well, that was easy. I then walked over to one of the barracks. I opened the door.

"WHO'S THE BEST SHOT?" I called into the noisy barracks.

"I AM," a man stood up. He was Leonard from before, he know bore the promotion of sergeant.

"General's orders, but it's your choice, do you want to come with us for the search of more serum for the cure?" I asked.

" No, but I'll come with you to avenge Jen," he stood. I beckoned for the survivors to follow me. In a short walk we walked towards the armory. They had all kinds of stuff, some weren't even U.S. but, from our enemys who now helped us in this time of crisis. AK-47s, M-16s, M-4's, M60s, LAWs, M21's, Dragunovs, RPDs. I grabbed an M-4 almost immediately. Zoey grabbed an M21 semi-automatic sniper rifle, Bill grabbed an M-16 assault rifle, Louis grabbed an MP5 sub machinegun, Francis grabbed the AK-47, and Leonard grabbed an M60 light machinegun. We stuffed ourselves on ammo and grenades. This time I didn't have a 203 grenade launcher on mine though. We jogged over to the landing pad where UH-60 had landed. We entered and the pilot asked me, "You guys the ones going to Metro City?"

"Yeah, let's get there ASAP!" I told him. The roar of the propellers took hold and Heather sat in my lap. A blackhawk helicopter is LOUD. I stared out the open door as the heli began to take flight. I looked about the cabin at those who may live or die depending upon my decisions during the course of this mission. Outside the black scenery seemed to slowly drift by.

"ETA(EstimatedTimetoArrival) ONE HOUR!" the pilot shouted over the roar of the propellers. I drifted to sleep.

An hour passed like that. Before I knew it, the heli was descending. It hovered slightly off the ground and I grabbed Heather and leapt off, the others following. We were on the rooftop of an apartment. We fought our way through the barely infested buildingand entered the street.

(Change in POV)

Aran shot four more zombies in the head with his silenced hunting rifle. He had been up on top of this three story hotel since the beginning of the infection and hadn't seen a single survivor. He glanced down his scope again. Two soldiers, one college looking girl, a biker, and a business man walked down the street. He fired as one of the hooded zombies attempted a pounce. The survivors glanced at the rooftop. Aran waved his arms like a madman. One of the soldiers pointed. Aran sprinted down the fire escape and slid down the rope. He didn't know it, but these eight survivors might be his ticket outta here.

(original POV)

A survivor gunned it down the fire escape.

"Whazzup?" A second voice from the darkness called. Gerald appeared out of the darkness.

"I got him," the other survivor called. He fired a round, Gerald deflected it with his claw.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," I explained to the survivor.

"Yes," Gerald agreed, "verrrrrry bad things will happen." You could see the survivor shake..

"I'm Aran," the survivor greeted.

"I'm Tony, and this is (I pointed to the corresponding survivor) Zoey, Bill, Heather, Louis, Francis, Leonard, and that Hunter's name is Gerald," I greeted. We heard thudding and THREE Reapers ran at us from behind. We took off running. And running. And running.

That was a little bit short but it allows time to introduce the Dead Air campaign. Please R+R and for Lucan good job finding the accuracy mistakes. I wondered if anyone would. Also yes, the M16A2 is National Guard standard issue and the Army Rangers and Marine Force Recon use the M4. Also, Majors do have incidents where they command something as small as a squad, (my dad in Kosovo one of them).

Majors are often times deployed on the field and a COLONEL is the General's staff.


	12. Chapter 12: The Greenhouse

Chapter 12:

The Greenhouse

We kept running until we came to a Greenhouse. Bill shut the garage behind us. The huge titanium doors fell. It's almost like at this incidence the Reapers lost our scent. You could hear their footsteps trail away. We took a deep breath in this Greenhouse. Overhead a large C-47 cargo propeller plane flew overhead. I had an idea. I called in on the radio that Bill had brought, "Uhhhhh, negative on that APC transport, we have an alternative transport. I say again we have alternate transport." The plane flying overhead blew some loose boards off the roof. I looked on the table next to us. There were four pipe bombs, four molotovs, and four first aid kits. Zoey, Leonard, Bill, and I each grabbed our own health kit since we had the most experience in first-aid. Once everyone was ready I slowly opened the door to go into the other side of the Greenhouse. Louis pushed a yellow button on his pipe and threw it outside. The red light on the smoke detector flashed and there was beeping. The zombies chased after it and we held Gerald back to prevent him from killing himself. The grenade detonated and the horde that chased after it disappeared in a thick red mist. We walked out of the Greenhouse and onto the roof. I heard crying.

"Witch!" Louis whispered loudly. My flashlight went out. Outside the air was a creepy orange. A witch rocked back and forth outside weeping. Something didn't seem right about this Witch. Unlike most Witches, this one had darker skin and appeared to look sort of 'squishy'. I carefully and slowly approached her from behind. I could see what appeared to look like a layer of dirt on her body. She must have felt my breath beating down her neck because she gasped. She then let out a series of throaty growls. I backed away. She continued growling until I was underneath the ladder. I walked up to her from a different side. This time the Witch growled louder. Zoey must have accidentally fired off a shot because next thing I know. I'm scrambling up the ladder with her hot on my heels. I kept running around in a circle on the series of roofs. I kept running around this little, "roof shed" thing. I noticed something. This dark layer of what looked like dirt formed around her. This force field lasted ten seconds and during which she couldn't be harmed. After ten seconds, the dirt fell to the ground and she could be harmed. I could tell as she screamed as more of our rounds hit her. I leapt off what I thought was a small ledge. I landed on a fire escape. The Witch attempted to follow but failed the jump and fell to her death below. I was barely hanging on with both my arms.

"HELLLLLLLLP!" I shrieked at the survivors above me.

"For an Air Force dude, you fly like a brick," Francis commented as he grabbed my arm and began to hoist me up.

"It's ARMY! Calling me an Air Force man is like calling you a joy rider," I corrected.

"I'm no joy rider," Francis whimpered, "joy riders can't blow stuff up can they? I like making things go boom." I felt my feet hit solid ground.

"ZOEY! DO NOT DISTURB THE WITCH WHEN I'M BESIDE HER!" I yelled at Zoey, my adrenaline pumping.

"Sorry," Zoey responded she seemed to have her feelings hurt. I didn't really pay attention to this, I ALMOST DIED after all.

"Now even the Witches are evolving?" Bill asked.

"Yeah, hey look at Gerald!" I yelled. Gerald's head grew about an inch. His claws now resembled more hand-like in a way, they looked like what would happen if Zoey didn't cut her nails for seven years. The claws appeared more Human. "HA HA HA!" Gerald laughed, "look thumbs!" Gerald now had thumbs. He could open doors. DANG! We can't lock him in a cage anymore. After the Witch we entered through a series of apartments.

"TANK!" Zoey yelled. Amazingly, another normal Tank approached us. I couldn't tell where but I noticed Zoey starting to back up.

"Where is he?" I asked. Zoey pointed. BOOM! I got hit by a tank's fists and flew away. I skipped off the roof a few times before I finally stopped. I knew something about me was broken. I shrugged off the damage and stood up. I gagged. And felt shards of my pelvis ease their way up my throat. They then came out in the form of a chunky stew. The Tank kept coming at me. _You've got to be kidding me! You just punted me and made me gag my own Pelvis up. AND NOW YOU'RE GOING TO PUNT ME AGAIN? _ I asked myself. It gave me a telepathic moment where I thought inside my mind it said, _no, I'll do this! _ It ripped a slab of cement out of the ground and chucked it at me. I got behind a corner of a building and watched the cement hit the building and pieces fly off. Gerald leapt at the tank and slit it in the gut. When it turned to face him Zoey came over, primed a grenade, shoved it into the gut of the tank and watched as the Tank's insides splattered against the ground. The Tank's corpse rolled down the roof and hit with a THUNK against the ground. A large crater pocketed the ground where the Tank initially landed. We went back into the apartment. I sat on a bed. Zoey came up.

"Sit still and let me heal you," she ordered. I shook my head and ate some pain pills. My chest went numb. I staggered a bit then collected myself and stood still. We went outside yet again and walked up a ladder to a roof. There was a wooden board spanning the two buildings. I went across first. It felt wobbly but I quickly darted across. Zoey went last. There was a sickening crack and the board split in two.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Zoey screamed as she fell. I dove and grabbed her arm. I caught it mid- flight.

"Hang on, I gotcha girl. Now on three you reach out with your other hand and grab the side of the building. One………………..Two………………..THREE," I hoisted her a little bit higher. "Louis grab her other arm," I ordered Louis. He grabbed her other arm and we lifted her onto the roof.

"Thanks!" Zoey thanked. Inside yet ANOTHER apartment building it actually appeared to be offices. Another wooden board spanned between offices and another building.

"Noooooo way am I going last," Zoey told. I grabbed her hand and she shuffled her feet behind me.

"OW," I yelped, "you're hurting my hand." Zoey had a death grip on my hand. Gerald merely pounced to the other side via the other window. Once on land again Zoey fell to the ground and prayed, "no more boards." Inside law offices for Fitzgerald, attorney of law we had a very small walk to the next safehouse. I broke a window and jumped outside. I landed on the trailer of a truck. A smoker pulled Louis into a red car. The alarm went off. Shit. We ran inside a theater. RED STEEL DOORS! We entered the safehouse. A hunter pounced Zoey just outside the safehouse.

"Oh, no you di'nt!" Gerald yelled at the other Hunter. He counter-pounced the other Hunter. Gerald clawed the hunter and threw its entrails all over the theater. Everyone gagged as the Hunter pulled out a still beating heart. Gerald dove into the safehouse as another horde approached. I sighed a deep sigh as we locked the door. I took a couple of matches out of my pocket and started a bonfire Gerald backed away slowly from the flames. I poured a little lighter fluid just to spook him. The flames shot upwards in a fiery sort of explosion. Gerald yelped. We all laughed.

"Wow, that Witch was bogus man!" Louis commented.

"Yeah, she grew like a second skin," Zoey added.

"And you almost died!" Francis pointed at me and laughed.

"Because SOMEONE shot at the Witch!" I accused. I shot a devious glare at Zoey.

"Don't yell at Zoey, it wasn't her fault you suck," Aran defended. Aran put her arm around Zoey. I felt rage rising. I somehow managed to cap it.

"Creepy," Zoey commented and slid away from Aran and snuggled up next to me.

"_You know I'm not angry right?" _ I whispered in Zoey's ear. She nodded then kissed my neck. Heather came over and sat in my lap.

"So errr, Aran is it? What's your story?" Francis asked.

"Well, I have been sniping zombies up on top of that apartment building with the stairs effectively blocked off. Also, I had a silencer on my Hunting Rifle to avoid attracting the horde. One of my biggest failures was near the beginning when a Woman and her child attempted to flee across the street. I COULDN'T HIT THE DAMN HUNTER! The hunter pounced the mom and a smoker grabbed the kid. I had to get more ammo from my storage area on the stairs. By the time I got back, the mom was dead and the son had disappeared. I had failed and never forgiven myself," Aran explained.

"Let's break out the grub!" Francis suggested. Zoey got off my shoulder and grabbed ten cheeseburgers. We heated up each one in the microwave that was there. When we gave one to Gerald he said, "Sorry, lactose intolerant." I wanted to sock him in the face but Zoey held my hand back and pulled out a hamburger from her backpack. She heated _it _in the microwave. We gave it to Gerald again, "Sorry, I'm a vegen," Gerald refused the burger again.

"WHAT?" I yelled, "you're a friggin' zombie flesh eater and you don't like beef?"

"It has cholesterol C-H-O-L-E-S-T-E-R-O-L!" Now I was really confused.

"Since when do you hate cholesterol?" I asked.

"Since the last time Zoey cooked," Gerald explained. Zoey put her arms together and pouted.

"What do we need to chew your food for you?" I joked.

"No, but RAW meat would be nice," Gerald suggested. Zoey pulled a steak out of her backpack. Gerald went crazy and shoveled in bite by bite.

"I WAS GONNA EAT THAT!" Francis complained. Gerald shot him a murderous stare like he was saying, _just try to take it!_ After dinner we broke out the cards. We played a few hands for ammunition and snacks. I lost as usual every single hand. Francis tried to cheat like usual, but with five aces. Afterwards at about one in the morning. Zoey curled up beside me and we made sort of like a double bag. Zoey slept in between us and shortly afterwards we all fell asleep.

(Hat tip goes to Mr. Shy Rockstar for the Witch idea) R+R!


	13. Chapter 13: The Red Star get's Involved

Chapter 13:

The Red Star gets involved

After I was nudged a bit I finally rose. I rubbed my eyes and out of my tired vision I saw that most of the others were awake. I was jabbed again and spun around. Gerald sat there poking me with his hand that had a retracted claw.

"Alright I'll bite," I spoke, "why did you wake me from my slumber?"

"Francis is acting weirder than usual, just look at yer' mate over there," he nodded at Zoey who was trying to grab a cylinder canister that Francis held just above her reach. Gerald then sat on my sleeping bag, stretched like a cat, yawned, than slept on my sleeping bag. As I walked over, I noticed Louis sitting in a corner red-faced.

"Come on! Give it back!" Zoey nagged as she hopped in vain to reach the canister.

"No, this is for Louis's own good!" Francis replied. He moved the Pills canister out of Zoey's reach

"What's going on here?" I asked.

"Francis stole Louis's pills," Zoey explained as she attempted to swipe the Advil Pain Pills but missed.

"Oh look, it's the Army guy," Francis heckled.

"If you're gonna be a turd, go lay in the grass," I responded viciously. Francis grinned and socked me in the arm.

"HAHA!" he laughed, "I should kill you after that comment!"

"There's only one way to settle this," I explained.

"What's that?"

"ZOMBIE YO-MAMA FIGHT!" Louis yelled. I took off my jacket and handed it to Zoey. Francis took off his vest and threw it. The vest landed on Gerald's face which caused him to squeal in terror, "Ewwww bug flavored!" I spat on the ground.

"Yo mama's so ugly, even a Smoker won't lick her!" I started, everyone oohed in burnage.

"Yeah, well yo mama's so ugly, that when a Boomer vomits on her, she looks better!"  
"Yo mama's so bi-, a Hunter won't pounce her!"

"Hell yeah I won't!" Gerald added.

"Yo mama's so stupid, she thinks Jar-Jar comes with Pickles-Pickles!" Francis responded. Everyone booed.

"Hey that's Star Wars no cheating!" Zoey called out.

"Ooh standing up for your man?" Francis responded with a grin.

"What?" she asked.

"No no no, he wants to go Star Wars, I'll go Star Wars," I responded. I cleared my throat. "Yo mama's so fat, Ben Kenobi said 'that's no moon, that's YO MAMA!"

"Yo mama's so dumb, she thought a lightsaber is low in calories!" Everyone but Francis looked at each other in confusion. "What? She thought it was good for your……good for your colon that's how stupid your momma is."

"Yo mama's so stupid, she spent all day saying 'am not!' to R-2!" I burned.

"Yo mama's so stupid, she tripped over a cordless phone!"

"Yo mama's so fat, she went to McDonalds, tripped over a Wendy's and landed on a Burger King!"

"I ain't got nothin' to say about yo mama, her face says it all!"  
"Yo mama's so fat that when she did jumping jacks, Atlantis vanished!"

"For the serving, Yo Mama's so fat, that Jabba the Hutt says DAMN!"

"Oooh, you got served….in a silver platter, with a spoon….and a side of melted butter," Louis said.

"Yo Mama's so hairy, the only language she speaks, is WOOKIE!"

"Yo mama's so fat, she's got two smaller women orbiting around her!" Francis's eyes crossed with rage.

"That is enough, Tony wins!" Bill held my hand high. Francis just groaned. He threw me the pills.

"Heyyyy Louisss!" I shook the pills and Louis ran over. I threw him the pills which rattled when Louis caught it.

"Thanks man, I owe you a big one!" Louis thanked.

"Ewww I probably have flesh-eating bacteria or the Flu now!" Gerald yelled with the sweaty vest across his face. He clawed viciously trying to get it off. Francis walked over and grumbled as he picked it up.

"You know what I don't hate?" he asked.

"WE KNOW! You don't hate VESTS!" the rest of us shouted in chorus. John woke up and grabbed his SAW. I removed the bar for the safehouse and we exited safety. Outside, we came to the street. There was a large T.V. screen on a building that was repeating on a loop.

"This is MDN's reporter David Guiliter with a new report on the cult," The T.V. changed to a different man speaking.

"The Cult, Horn's Bane has been seen gathering weapons during the beginning of this infection. We have reports of a massive collection of supplies and hostages. The MCPD is currently on high alert, ready to assault whenever given the information on where the lair is. If anyone has any information leading to the apprehension of this cult please contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-296-8922. There is a substantial reward for said information." A claw appeared on screen and the reporter scrambled to get away, the T.V. rewound back to the beginning. We walked through the now silent street. A mist shrouded the area around us. I could smell mildew in the air. A crow flew overhead and you could hear the thumping of it's wings and it's _c_aw _caw caw_ squawking.

I heard what sounded like moaning. It was a short almost like a chuckle. I climbed to the top of a car to get a look around. I gazed through my binoculars and saw what appeared to be a tank. It had long claws on one hand however. It slowly rocked in a corner. It sniffed the air. Francis slowly walked forward despite us trying to hold him back. It seemed as though this thing's ears were broken because it couldn't detect Francis's footsteps. It sniffed the air but still was oblivious to Francis. Francis waved at us. As he waved, the being turned around. It roared and punched Francis with it's non-clawed hand. Francis flew and landed with the rest of us. We opened fire. The thing laughed an evil laugh. It rushed at us like a gorilla on crack. We started running. It punted a nearby sedan at us. The Toyota struck Zoey who fell to the ground screaming in pain.

"COVER ME!" I ordered the group as I took off running to Zoey. She looked at me with her beautiful blue eyes. As I came close, the new form of tank grabbed Zoey with a clawed hand. It impaled her on the claw. I stared at Zoey as her blue eyes faded away. She huffed as the last breath of life's air slipped through her lips. Zoey was dead. The thing laughed cruelly. It kicked Zoey's lifeless corpse off the spike and sent her flying into a building, I saw the dead go to swarm her cadaver. A rage infiltrated my brain. I fired my entire clip at the Tank thing's head. It chuckled again and picked me up with a clawless hand. It grinned-- or so it appeared and rose it's clawed hand to stab me. I thought about home before the infection and how I used to have the life I always wanted. I thought about the time I had died at the hands of a Reaper. Finally I recounted the events that led to the death of my beloved Zoey. I closed my eyes and waited to die. I started attempting to struggle free but it's strength kept me in place. I felt a searing pain ripple through my chest. I felt myself falling. I hit the ground with a thud. I looked up to see that Gerald had pounced the Tank thing in the face. He was clawing at the eyes of it. The tank stabbed the Hunter lightly in the hip, just enough to go through the skin. Gerald grinned with satisfaction as he removed the brain of the Tank. The pink cauliflower looking thing plopped onto the ground with a sickening splat. Gerald leapt off the Tank as it fell sideways. The ground shuddered upon the impact. I felt warm liquid oozing down my leg. I realized I just soiled myself. I felt another liquid, this one was sticky and I was pained by it. It was blood.

I put my hand on my chest and realized that Gerald had stabbed me in the chest accidently to free me from that thing's grasp. I coughed up more blood. I fell onto the ground and felt a lone tear stream down my face. I heard the others running over.

"Yo man, you alright?" Louis asked.

"DO I LOOK ALRIGHT?" I screamed, I coughed up more blood. I could only pray the thing didn't crush anything important.

"Where's Zoey?" Bill asked.

"She's………up there," I gestured towards the sky.

"She's in Canada? Why would she be in Canada? I hope she brings me back bacon," Francis said unaware of the events that had just occurred.

"No you nim-rod," Bill insulted, "she's……."

"She's………dead….," I explained. I felt another tear fall.

"Well kid, I'm sorry," Bill said sorrowfully, "you need to be patched up though."

"Yeah, you look worse than Francis does," Gerald tried to lighten the mood. He failed.

"Stay still, let me patch you up," Louis began providing first-aid. After a little pressure, he stopped the bleeding. He then bundled me up in bandages and medical tape. A little pain killers and I felt only semi-crappy.

"God, what happened? I was covering the flank so I didn't see anything," John asked.

"Well," I said trying to recount, "I was looking through my binoculars while on top a car to get a better view. I saw some type of Tank thing crouched in a corner. Francis over here walked towards it. Apparently, this thing couldn't hear or smell because it didn't detect Francis until it actually saw him. The Tank punted Francis a good hundred feet. The rest of us started to run when it punted a Toyota which hit Zoey. She fell to the ground writhing in pain. I attempted to help her up when that thing picked her up, impaled her on it's claws, which killed her. It then threw her into one of those buildings over there." I pointed to what looked like an old store. John nodded in sympathy. Heather burst down crying, Gerald looked away. I mustered myself together. We need to move on, she would want us to.

"God dammit Zoey wakeup!" Louis shouted at nothing. I grabbed my M-4 and shouldered it. I led the way down the street.

"Sssshhh, you hear that?" Aran asked. He pointed to a nearby building. I could faintly hear what sounded like gunfire and speaking. We cautiously walked around a corner. I slowly opened the door with a creak. I slowly shuffled in the door. On the second floor gunfire and shouts were now clearly heard. We walked up a set of stairs.

"SHIT! HERE COMES MORE UP THE STEPS!"

"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!"

"HOW MANY MORE OF THESE THINGS ARE THERE?" We walked to the top of the stairs. BERRRROOF, a bullet whizzed into my right shoulder. I cringed in pain.

"WE'RE HUMAN HOLD YOUR FIRE!" I shouted. The gunfire stopped and footsteps ran to me.

"Holy Shit!" A man in US Marine BDU's said. He appeared to be no more than a measly Private. The second survivor was a woman dressed in a blue skirt with a matching blouse. She had long black hair that ran to her shoulders. She carried a Colt .45 handgun in one hand and a smoking Sawed-Off shotgun in the other. A third survivor was another U.S. soldier, he carried a large radio on his back with an M-16 in his hands. A bayonet was attached to the gun that was covered in blood. Finally, there was another woman, with short curly brunette hair. She wore a dark sweatshirt and a bolt-action Springfield rifle lie in her hands. It too had a bayonet.

"Wow, never did expect to see anymore survivors in Metro City." The man with a radio said, "much less a Major at that!" The rest of my group walked up the stairs.

"Well, no mean to be rude but, who exactly are you?" The black haired woman asked.

"Major Tony Franks ma'am, Zulu Company," I identified.

"A gentlemen! It's been a while since we saw a man like you in these parts, thought you were extinct," she complemented. I had the strangest feeling she was hitting on me. "Oh but anyway, I'm Jessica, that guy with the radio is Clark, the other girl is Jasmine, she is rather cold , and the Marine is Palowsky. Pleased to meet you," she introduced. She held out her hand, I grabbed it and shook it; after all, I was an endangered species! She smiled a quirky smile and then I gestured my glum group to join us.

"THERE'S ANOTHER!" Clark shouted as he spotted Gerald, he stumbled trying to fire his jammed M-16.

"Hold yer' fire! He's a friendly!" I shouted. Clark looked confused but then Heather got in front of Gerald blocking him completely. Clark muttered a curse and unjammed his rifle, ejecting the shell onto the wooden floor. He sited his target between the crosshairs of his Assault Rifle. I drew my pistol in a haze. I held the gun aimed at his head. I pulled the top back cocking the weapon and slid off the safety.

"Clark," I ordered, "put the gun down."

"But he's…" Clark stammered.

"Put it down….noww….." he slowly lowered his weapon. I put my weapon back on safety and pointed it away. He dropped his gun which clattered to floor with a clang.

"You're insane," Clark commented.

"That's no way to talk to an officer Private," I nagged.

"Your insane, _sir_," he muttered.

"That's more like it!" I commented.

"Sir! Private Jacob A. Palowsky, Third squad 4th Marines Sir!" Palowsky snapped a salute.

"At ease Private, technically I'm not your commander however," I spoke.

"In that case……." Palowsky started.

"But, under such conditions I'm sure the Army wouldn't mind if I folded you into my unit," I stated. He nodded and the attention went over to Jessica when she walked over to Heather.

"Hi there little one, what's your name?" she asked. Heather shook her head and ran over and hugged my leg, she hid behind it.

"Sorry, she's shy," I explained.

"Ahhhhh," Jessica asked, "well what's her name?"

"Heather."

"Yeah and I'm Francis my fair lady," Francis introduced, he grabbed her hand and kissed it.

"Ugggh, you smell like something crawled up your butt and died," Jessica commented disgusted.

"No way! I showered and removed that squirrel five days ago!" Francis denied. We all looked at him weirdly. He shrugged, all the other survivors introduced themselves.

"We were deployed to find a cure at Metro University," I explained out situation.

"Ahhh, the labs," Jessica recalled.

"Sir, we are seeking evac, do you have any idea where to go?" Palowsky asked. I nodded, "yeah, stay with us and we'll get you out, we have an APC coming to get us."

"Schweetness," Clark commented. I led the way, we exited onto the street. I heard yelling in a foreign language. Gunfire erupted from a building across the street.

"TAKE COVER!" I yelled as I dove behind a military sandbag barricade. We returned fire. I saw muzzle flashes on top of an apartment building. These commies were using AK's and RPD's. For survivors they were heavily armed.

"Palowsky, Leonard, flank left! EVERYONE ELSE, COVERING FIRE!" I unloaded my clip into the building. Everyone else did the same, the muzzle flashes stopped. The second we stopped shooting, a single muzzle flash lit up.

"ARGH!" Leonard yelled as a round tore through his hip. He fell to the ground writhing in pain while a Palowsky dove behind a wall. Leonard lie on the ground rocking side to side as if trying to roll behind cover.

"Stay still," I whispered to John, "you want to get yourself killed?"

"The buggers are Chinese Commandos. Their flag dangles on the building," Aran informed me. Dammit, they took advantage of our country's distress!

"Aran," I began.

"Yeah?_" _he whispered back

"_Do you have a shot on that Asshole Sniper?" _I asked.

"_I don't see him," _Aran replied.

"I'll get his attention," I put my helmet on the barrel of the rifle. I slowly raised it over the wall. A shot flashed and a bullet hit my helmet sending it spinning on my rifle.

"Did you see that?" I asked. He whispered a yes. I saw the muzzle of his Hunting Rifle slide over the concrete debris he was hiding behind.

"_The lord is my Shepherd and I am is sheep," _Aran murmured and kissed a cross on his neck. "_As the gates of Hell open, and Demons walk the land I will not lose the faith. For you are my leader and I shall follow,"_ A crack of his rifle was heard and Aran waved at me. "Got em'!" Aran said with a smirk. I looked through my binoculars and saw no one else on the rooftop. I walked over to John. More gunfire erupted so I dragged him behind cover.

"Palowsky! Give me a hand!" I ordered. I unbuttoned the clothes of the bleeding area so I could expose the wound. "One one-thousand….Two One-thousand…..Three One-Thousand! APPLY PRESSURE!" I yelled as we applied pressure to stop the bleeding.

"WE STOPPED THE BLEEDING!" Palowsky yelled. John started to close his eyes.

"Stay with me John stay with me!" I yelled as I shook him.

"Ugh, I'm tireeeed," John commented starting to fade.

"No John no, stay awake man stay awake! Remember Jen!" I told him as his eyes began to flicker.

"Jen…..Jen….Jen, ugh I just wanted to say……ugh," John closed his eyes.

"NO!" I yelled I shook his head and gently slapped him in the face. I could feel his chest moving up and down. Suddenly and horribly….the movement stopped.

"NO NO NO NO NO!" I yelled in frustration as I shook him. We stopped the bleeding but the bullet stopped the breathing. I grabbed my helmet and chucked it away in anger.

"DAMN YOU CHINA!" I yelled at nothing. They would pay dearly for this. Palowsky looked down.

"You did everything you could sir," he attempted to comfort.

"Palowsky we are goin' Commie huntin'! Grab this shotgun," I threw him John's semi-automatic shotgun. I slowly pushed open the door

"誰在那裡？"

A Commando shouted around a corner. I fired a burst of rounds and shut him up good. We continued up stairs when we finally reached the roof. I saw Commandos opening fire with their machine guns down at the other survivors.

"_Grenade," _I whispered to Palowsky, he threw me an M67 Hand Grenade I pulled the pin and counted. _One one-thousand, two-one thousand, three one-thousand. _I threw the grenade which bounced over to the Chinese Commandos, one of them went to pick up the grenade and throw it, it blew off his arm and wounded one of the other seven commandos. I primed a flashbang threw it and looked away. A small explosion went off, and I could hear them talking amongst one another.

"FIRE!" I yelled to Palowsky and we fired our weapons. We easily dropped the commandos. I walked over to a Chinese flag on a pole on the roof. I pulled it down and threw it off the building. We started to climb down a nearby fire escape.

"Going somewhere American?" A heavily accented Chinese voice spoke behind us. I spun around. A Chinese officer in uniform stood two yards in front of me.

"Don't make me kick your ass like I did your Commie buddies," I threatened.

"You draw your weapon or I press this button," The officer held out a clicker, "Dozens of charges are scattered throughout the building. If you try to shoot me, I blow us all to an early grave." I knew it, we were screwed.

"What is it you want?" I asked.

"Nothing more than an honest duel, knives only. I want to see how the Americans train their soldiers," the officer drew a Combat knife. I unsheathed my Combat Knife and held it in my hand waiting for him to make the first move. We did the traditional circling thing. I watched his eyes looking for a tell that would explain his next move. His eyes looked to my left. A knife flew at me, I deflected his savage blow with a shower of sparks. I swung for his head, as he moved to block, I did a quick sweep downward into his thigh. He winced with pain as the blade slipped through the skin leaving a nasty cut. Blood dripped. In an Adrenaline filled rage he swung madly at my chest I blocked and parried the blow. More sparks flew as I launched a counter attack. He swung at my ribs. I went to block but his other hand grabbed my blade. It froze as a searing pain rippled through my chest. My nerves yelled at my brain,_ Eat pain for your suckish blade skills! _My brain fought back _but he cheated! _I shoved him away from me.

A voice talked to me from within my head, _swing at his head, he is unsuspecting another blow. _I was puzzled, I didn't think this, and it sounded like speaking almost.

_What the Hell? _I asked

_I am your conscious near your brain… kidding! It's really empty in here, no but really just do it._

I followed what I was told and swung at the head. He screamed as the blow knocked him back, he spat blood and whipped blood off his cheek.

_Now what? _I asked waiting in anticipation.

_Tell Gerald to pounce the Chinese guy._

_How? He can't hear me from up here._

_Just picture yourself telling Gerald that._

_But that doesn't make sense. _

I lost contact with whatever was talking to me. I did what I was told. I parried a blow and I saw movement. Gerald did a wall-jump and hit the Chinese Guy who was near the edge. Gerald pounced him so that he fell off the building, there was a scream as he fell off the five story building onto the street below. There was a thud as the body hit the ground with Gerald on it. I ran down the stairs and walked into the street. Gerald was crouched on the officer, with blood and guts everywhere, his eyes were red and claws were sharp. Gerald took the man's liver and tore a huge bite out of it, shaking his head as blood spewed.

"What's going on?" Jessica asked as she ran up towards me.

"The Chinese are here, they are spearheading an invasion," I explained, I grabbed my hip where I had been stabbed as I felt my chest for the cut.

"Woah, are you okay?" Jessica asked concerned.

"Yeah I'm fine," I said.

"But your bleeding in two places," Jessica spoke concerned.

"I said I'm fine!" I snapped. Jessica showed a spang of hurt. I gestured to go to the safehouse which was inside the building. I nodded and told them to follow me. I limped over to Gerald who was waiting on top of the Chinese Guy. Gerald's fangs dripped blood. His eyes were yellow and his claws had retracted.

"Let's go," I said weakly. Gerald nodded.

"So far I've been immune, but if I start to change, promise you'll shoot me," Bill made the group promise.

"What if just your beard starts to change, can I shoot that?" Francis joked. Sometimes he _was _actually funny, just rarely though. I staggered to the red steel doors where inside, a couch, a table, 5 chairs and supplies waited. I opened the door and once everyone was inside, I shut the door.

We had made it. We were almost to the cure. If the Chinese didn't get there first. Jessica came over and sat next to me.

"You really should heal yourself," Jessica nagged.

"Just leave me alone," I said as I ripped off the cover of a Hello Kitty band-aid and stuck it on my chest. I then took medical tape and stuck some to my hip covering all wounds. Louis walked up to me and sat on my other side, Jessica got up and left.

"You wanna talk about it man?" Louis asked.

"Shoo Black Man," I shooed him away. Gerald pounced onto the cushion next to me and curled up on it. Louis scampered away.

"No mean to talk, just to guard," Gerald explained. One by one the survivors came up to talk to me, one by one they got vetoed. Gerald even scratched Francis in an attempt to cheer me up. In most cases it would have worked. This time wasn't it. When food was passed out I denied it. I wasn't hungry. I barely went to sleep after long torturous hours. It just seemed like I blinked.

R+R

Ooh a Chinese invasion, that outta put a sock in your mouth. I hope I didn't offend any foreigners. Also new tank thing, not my idea, it was Razgrieve's (did I spell that right?) thanks for the reviews!


	14. Chapter 14:Legacy of the Horns Bane

Chap 14.

Legacy of the Horn's Bane

At Dawn's first light I awoke. I sat up and saw Gerald twitching.

"What the Hell?" I asked. Gerald continued twitching. He now lie on the ground rolling around.

"Chhhh….chhhh…ccchhh….CHOCOLATE!" He yelled as he sat up and started what looked like, break dancing. Bill, Louis, Francis, Jessica, and Heather were the only ones in the house/

"Where is everyone else?" I asked. Jasmine, Clark, and Palowsky were gone.

"They left, something about a supermarket," Jessica explained. She tugged her locks of hair.

"Ready kid?" Bill asked. I guess it was time to go.

"Ugh… As I'll ever be," I moaned. I put my M-4 on my back and picked up a 12 gauge shotgun that was in the room. I loaded each round one by one and pulled back the pump. I removed the bar from the door and pushed it open. The first infected I saw lost a head to a mouthful of buckshot. We entered a small hallway with a Hunter at one end. "Come get some!" I taunted the Hunter. He pounced towards me, I speared him mid-flight with my bayonet and pushed him off with a buckshot surprise. We rounded a corner and saw a flight of stairs.

"Why can't we ever take the elevator?" Bill asked.

"Don't you remember last time we took the elevator?" I asked. Bill seemed to remember the hordes that had come as a result. He nodded and I pushed open a closet door. I was thrown back with excessive velocity. I slammed into a wall and fell to a sitting position. A bayonet aimed at my face, an M-4 holding it. A large man held the weapon in front of me. He wore the Delta Force patch on his shoulder and traditional U.S. Army BDU's upon his body. His face and head was covered by a World War II era gas mask with a firemen's helmet covering the top of his head.

"Hold your fire, I'm a friendly! Major Tony Franks Zulu Company National Guard," I identified. His name patch indicated him as Master Sergeant Tucker. Tucker said nothing. I couldn't see through his clouded gas mask. He held out a hand. I grabbed it and he hoisted me to my feet. He gestured for me to follow. We did. We walked down a flight of stairs and arrived outside the building. He pointed at a boarded up store. I nodded and walked inside. The area had seemed devoid of life, as for we didn't see a single infected in the street. I opened the door with a creak. There was coughing and gasping for air. I shouldered my M-4 and put my shotgun on my back. I started slowly walking towards the source of commotion.

"Heeeello," A creepy snake-like voice said from behind me. I swiveled and faced an empty set of boxes. "We have been watching your progress through our city," another voice said behind me.

"We hold the one you seek, follow the trail to retrieve the relic," a lit path of lights highlighted an area ahead of me. I cautiously locked forward. Muffled voice could be heard ahead as though someone was struggling to speak. I continued my walk when I came to an empty room. The room blazed with light. I covered my eyes as they began to adjust. A woman in a white t-shirt sat on her knees with her arms tied around a wooden pole behind her. She looked starved and her head had signs of harm. A piece of duct-tape covered her mouth. I walked up to her and removed the tape from her mouth. She huffed a few deep breaths and sputtered gasping for fresh air. She was beautiful. Her features were flawless despite several wounds on her forehead.

It took me a moment to grasp this, a moment too long for the woman I was currently seeing to ring a bell. This bell was cut short though because I soon felt a sharp pain zapping it's way through my back. I fell to my knees and collapsed, I saw everyone else do the same. My vision blackened and I couldn't hear a thing. A shadow approaching was the last thing I saw before I blacked out.

_Franks, FRANKS! A voice whispered as I looked through the streets of Russia. It has been one year into the Vladiostok War and we had invaded Russia. My commander, Captain Smith and I had been assigned to an assassination mission against a Russian diplomat. We were on the outskirts of Volgograd. We were upon the hill, Mamayev Kurgan. We crawled through the cold, hard ground in our ghille suits. I could feel the wheat of the hill pushing past me in an effort to reach the top of the hill. Smith and I each had silenced M-20 sniper rifles. We slowly sifted through the wheat. We almost reached the bottom of the hill when an armored convoy parked on the base of the hill._

"_Don't move a…muscle," Smith warned. Staying completely still we appeared almost invisible compared to the rest of the terrain. The Russian Spetsnaz looked around the hill. I thought I made eye contact with one but apparently he didn't see me. The Russians started walking up the hill. "Let them pass, if you need to maneuver do it nice and slow, no sudden movements," Smith warned, we waited. I attempted to maneuver slightly to the left. I caught a Russian pair of eyes. When he looked back at the rest of the unit I put my head down. He felt my head's wheat covering. My heart stopped. He reached for the AK-47 on his back and aimed it between my legs. He fired a round just underneath. I didn't move. He fired another, this one a few inches above my head. I still didn't move. Satisfied, he wandered off. Smith and I rose to our feet we….._

A sharp pain shocked through my veins. I winced in pain as the charge shocked underneath my skin. I tried to move my hands trying to grab the source of pain. They were tied by a rope behind me. I opened my eyes and noticed I was tied with my arms behind my back against a wooden post. On my left, Bill was tied and to my right sat Zoey.

"It's about time you showed up, I was getting' lonely being dead and all," Zoey nervously joked. Apparently like in the case of Bill and Francis, if you endure so much pain you don't have the fortune to die. You just spawn in a box. WHY DIDN'T THE POLICE USE THESE? THERE WOULD BE NO ZOMBIES! I thought.

"Glad you found a _safe _box to reincarnate," I murmured to her. _By God, the Hindu's people constantly thought unsuperior by us Americans, were right about death. And the Communists, people who worked in sweatshops providing products for Wal-Marts now plotted our conquest and enslavement. _I thought. Dang, who saw that coming?

"Yeah, I am glad I found a corner to live in too. After all, what safer is it then to be in the only female who's Roman Catholic in the middle of a Cultists' group in God knows where. With my only rescuers now captured. I can only imagine what will happen tonight," Zoey said all too unenthusiastically. Footsteps could be heard coming down the narrow hallway that lie ahead, I watched as a shadow walked slowly down the hall. The shadow halted, and the dimly lit room burst into lights. A figure in red robes stood before us. He held his hands up to the sky like how a priest would bless something.

"Uugalok en Hentar!" The Cultist spoke. This was one messed up language.

"_The Heretics arrived,"_ Zoey translated in a hushed tone.

"Hooda maize, ook ga nick nuck!" The Cultist praised.

"_We now seek your guidance Nuck_," Zoey translated again. There was a pause.

"DER NO BAWNGA!" The Cultist shouted.

"YTI YTI! NIFF DER NO BAWNGA!" Zoey yelled.

"No NOT NO BAWNGA!" I yelled, "_what's Der No Bawnga?" _

Zoey gulped, "_Execute the non-believers." _Oh no. The Cultist drew a silver Katana from his holister. He tapped the blade of the sword against Louis's neck. Louis was panting heavily and gasping for air. The Cultist squinted his eyes and looked at another survivor. Clark sat against a nearby log. The Cultist put the blade against his throat.

"Goda Hell," Clark taunted as he coughed up more blood from previous beatings.

"Eeney!" The Cultist yelled as he slit the man's throat. Clark toppled over and blood spewed from his neck. He slumped over and his head hung loosely against the back of his neck in a 90 degree angle of the normal position. The Cultist came over to me and pressed the blade against my throat. I closed my eyes and thought of Home and how badly I was sweating, I didn't want to die like this in front of Zoey. I only die once you hear me! Hard enough coming back the first time! There was a _tit-tit-tit _of a suppressed M-4. The Cultist swiveled around and ran off shouting something like, "YOU MOTHERF(*&#$! MOM HE CHEATED!" _Wow what a noob is all I thought. _In the middle of the doorway stood a man in U.S. Army BDU's with a gas mask over his face. It was Tucker. He put his hand to where his lips would be and gestured for me to be quiet. He slowly walked over and drew his knife. He slashed through the rope. I struggled and my arms were free. I put my hands at my hips and felt no weapons. They picked me clean of everything but my combat knife which had been laid infront of me while I was unconscious apparently. I felt the tip of the blade until I was satisfied it was sharp told the other survivors to hang tight and we'll be right back with our weapons.

"Can you at least dismount me from the wall?" Gerald asked. His arms and legs were chained to the wall all he could move was his head.

"Fine," I spoke as I pulled the chains off. Gerald, Tucker and I all walked down some stairs until we came to a box with question marks at either ends.

"It wants five bucks," Gerald commented. I looked around and found a slot to put in my money. There was a click and the lid swung open while it played some weird _dooo dooodooododo doloo do deee!_ A .357 Magnum floated in the air above it. I grabbed it and the box shut itself.

"Freaky," I commented. We walked and found a barrel full of our stuff. Zoey's Hunting Rifle, Francis's shotgun, My M-4, Bill's M-16, a SAW, a sawed-off shotgun, five colt .45's, a metal monkey with the cymbals, Five First Aid Kits, nine pain pills, two pipe bombs, six M67 Frag Grenades, and four molotovs all in a convenient barrel. We tipped over the Barrel and rolled it to the other survivors. We picked our packs and weapons and rose once everyone was loose. Jessica carried the Sawed-Off Shotgun in her hands while Zoey looked at her suspiciously. We walked into the rainy outside with guns ready. One common infected ran at us and was quickly met with the business end of Tucker's bayonet, and forcibly kicked out into the street. We continued walking until we found a large building labeled:

ME RO C TY UN V R TY. I assumed it was the University and we walked through the large Glass doors into the lobby.

"Hey Zoey look, classes, makes you homesick doesn't it?" Louis asked.

"It makes me somethin'" Zoey returned.

"I hate Universities," Francis commented. We walked up to the front desk and Jessica got on one of the computers.

"Guys, come take a look at this," Jessica nagged, Bill and I walked up to her. We stared at a normal desktop. "Look! It's a normal background!" She cheered.

"Oh my God not a normal background!" I yelled.

"No, when the Virus had hit the computers, a black box with a bunch of random numbers and letters would prohibit anything involved with that computer, the box blocked the entire desktop preventing it from being closed. Now the box is gone, look I can get on the Internet!" Jessica explained.

"This was just the thing the Army needed to tip this War, now we can call in the planes," Bill explained while tugging his beard. I gestured to all the survivors to group on me.

"Alright everyone, this is the University, we just need to kill an army of dead, and take the potion to end this fight. Internet and all computers are now online which means the U.S. Air Force is actually useful. We have all made it this far, and thus, we can rally ourselves together for a final push. It has been almost two months now since we had to leave our homes out of fear of this abomination," I spoke.

"I don't fear anything, it was just the ugly that sent me away," Francis denied.

"Yes, well anyway, we still had to leave. Soon after we get this serum, scientists will be able to discover a way to put it in U.S. rounds. This will allow a final push which shall allow us to return to our homes. However, I can't do this by myself and since this is the University, the toughest original zombies will lie in wait for us. This won't be easy, I now leave the choice to you, you can come with me and together we will write our names in the History Books for ending the plague. Or you can leave to the safety of a safehouse and escape when we do, I won't stop you. The War of Wars is about to start and I ask, who will follow me into battle?" There was a minute long pause. I thought I was going to be alone when Zoey spoke, "I have followed you to the ends of the world to escape from Fairfield. I have grown a deep love for you, and I shall follow you into the gates of madness if need be, I will never leave you." Tucker stepped forward he placed his hand on my shoulder, muttered a deep sigh then nodded.

"I have seen chaos before, and if there's one thing I learned from 'Nam it's don't fight the Vietnamese in Vietnam or the fact that, no matter what the cost, you never leave comrades behind. Count me in," Bill spoke.

"Yo man, we've been together since Mercy Hospital and you've saved my butt on more than one occasion, I know if I leave I'll be screwed so I'm gonna tag along," Louis said.

"Well, you may look worse than a dead fish and may have a horrible Army job but hey, I'm invincible and it's fun to kill vampires!" Francis commented.

"Zombies," Corrected Zoey.

"Whatever," Francis shrugged.

"Well, no one else is leaving and this IS fun so I shall come," Jessica concluded.

"What else have I got better to do?" Gerald asked. He came.

"That just leaves you Heather, you want to come?" I asked her. She nodded and scurried to my leg and latched on like a tick.

Glass shattered around us. I dove behind a desk dragging Heather with me. Everyone else found cover and bullets raked around us. Chinese yelling could be heard ahead of us. The bullets fired the other way as a horde approached.

"Tucker, got any Claymore?" I asked. He nodded and tossed me two Claymore anti-personnel mines. I caught each one with a moan. I put them at opposite sides of the door way then held two clickers in my hand. "Everyone, hold your fire until you hear the screams of dismembered Communists," I said in a hushed tone. The horde dissipated as the Chinese boots came our way. Everyone hid behind cover that prevented friendly fire from the claymores. Two Chinese figures stood in the doorway, as I noticed through a hole in the desk, more were coming. By then, six figures stood in a V in the doorway, I grabbed one clicker. I observed the Chinese then yelled, "Hey Commies! Suck on this!" I clicked the clicker twice and there was a violent explosion. Screaming continued as I grabbed the second clicker. I then detonated it and more clay slugs from the mine tore into the flesh of the enemy. By then, the six lie on the ground rocking back and forth in pain. More footsteps were coming. "OPEN FIRE!" I yelled as we erupted our weapons into a burst of bullets and buckshot rounds. The Chinese soldiers took cover. Tucker threw another grenade and somehow shot it mid flight which had it explode killing several other men. A Chinese Commando peeked around a corner and fired one shot. Zoey screamed as the round hit her. I pumped that Commando so full of lead he was probably radiation-resistant.

"COVERING FIRE!" I yelled as I dove behind the cover where Zoey was hit. I dragged her with me and opened up a barrage of bullets to our communist "buddies."

"Aran blow their brains out, I got to tend to Zoey," I ordered Aran as he nodded and continued popping heads with his Hunting Rifle. "Where were you hit?" I asked Zoey.

"Agh, my… gut," She said weakly. Her blood was oozing out of her stomach. I uncovered the wound and opened the first-aid kit. She continued to stare at the blood which was now quickly leaking out of her and staining my uniform. I looked at the blood and thought that she only had a slim chance.

"This is gonna hurt, but I got to remove the bullet," I told her. I gave her a bullet and instructed her to clamp her jaw down on it so the she could sustain the pain without hurting herself. _ Okay, just like they taught you in those few days you were at medic school take the tweezers and steadily reach the shot area. _I did as I though and carefully descended the tweezers into the wound. I felt them bump something hard. I opened the tweezers and grabbed the shell of the round. Now came the painful part, I pulled the bullet out of the muscle. I felt her flinch in pain. I steadily pulled the bullet out until I had the bullet of an AK-47 in my hand. I laid it on the ground and felt for my painkillers. "Come on stay awake!" I yelled to her. She was fluttering her eyes. If she fell asleep one of four things could happen. These were: she could fall unconscious, she could go into shock, she could enter a coma, or she may not awaken. I took some anti-bacterial solution and sprayed it into the wound. I then took a sterile bandage and applied it over the wound. "Can you walk?" I asked as she started to be able to open her eyes more. She attempted to stand but stumbled and winced in pain. Well, this just screws over our entire defense. If Zoey didn't get to safety where I could stitch up the wound she may die again. "Guys, we need to fall back!" I yelled to the others.

Jessica shook her head, "the doors outta here are locked! We need to bypass the lock with the computer if we want to get inside!" she explained. Well, now we were double screwed. Some daredevil who is also good at computers needs to hack the lock while we cover Zoey and Jessica at the same time. This was juuuust Peachy!

"Jessica get on that terminal, we'll hold em' off!" I ordered. I grabbed my M4 and loaded the 203 grenade launcher. I pushed in the grenade and fired. The explosion wounded or killed several Chinese soldiers. We continued to fire. "FLASHBANG!" I yelled as I threw a stun grenade. "LOOK AWAY!" I yelled. There was a pop and a small steam of smoke rose up. I saw the Chinese stumbling around. I told everyone to put them down, we fired killing the last batch of Chinese. There was a large scream, now came the Horde. "Jessica how long until that door is down?" I asked as I gunned a zombie in the face.

"I NEED A MINUTE! I just got Rickrolled! They rerouted me to RickRoll, I NEED A MINUTE!" she yelled. Not Rickroll! Rick Roll is a true sign of death! We continued to barely hold our position when a click of death came.

"I'M DRY! I'M DRY! I NEED A CLIP!" Aran shouted as he desperately tried to hold with a handgun.

"CATCH!" I yelled as I threw Zoey's ammo to Aran who desperately shoved another clip into the rifle. I had a click and not longer later, Francis and Louis had the same. We switched to our pistols and continued to fire. Our small rounds did damage but it took an entire clip to wax three zombies. Headshots not included. "HOW MUCH LONGER IS THIS GONNA TAKE JESSICA?" I yelled.

"I'M IN THE NETWORK, FIVE MINUTES UNTIL…. DANGIT! THEY HAVE AOL WE NOW NEED TO DOWNLOAD ADOBE SHOCKWAVE! OH YES! THE PAPER CLIP IS CONNECTING US TO….NOOOOO NOT RESPONDING! NEVER MIND THREE MINUTES UNTIL OPENING!" she explained. So now we had to survive three minutes with AOL so who knows how long, I have four clips left and Zoey was about to be attacked by a zombie. I launched myself towards the zombie and tackled him to the ground. I removed my knife and stabbed it in the head. It just continued laying there. I dragged Zoey behind cover. "TWO MINUTES!" yelled Jessica. We continued firing our weapons and had now fallen behind the desk. I pumped three more 9 mm shots into a zombie. "THE DOOR'S OPEN!" The door slid open. We all dashed inside, I dragged Zoey by her arm in.

We slammed the door shut with a shove. I realized the room we had entered was a safehouse. I put down my weapon and sighed a large sigh. Through Chinese and an infinite horde of the undead, we made it. I then remembered Zoey. She still lie in the same place I had dragged her. I gave her pain pills then took out a needle from the first aid kit, and medical thread. I washed off the needle and after about 40 attempts, got the thread through the eye of the needle. I then began stitching up Zoey. In the few weeks I was actually at medical school, this and first-aid was one of the first things I learned. Afterwards Zoey looked like a collage with bandages here, and stitches there, and medical tape here.

*change in POV*

Louis sat in the safehouse on a chair. They had actually made it. Tony had nearly gotten them all killed but at the same time he saved them all. Francis walked up to Louis. "Hey man could I talk to you?" Francis asked.

"Ahhhhhhh, sure why not?" Louis asked. Francis led them to a darkened part of the room. They spoke in a whisper so no one could hear them.

"_Hey Louie, do you think Zoey likes me?" _Francis asked.

Louis shook his head, "_I highly doubt it, seeing as how you treated her in the past you know with the name-calling and that one physical incident and the other things_," Louis listed off incidents one by one.

"_How could she possibly resist my Manly charms?" _Francis asked.

"_Do you need me to start listing off reasons?" _Louis responded.

"_Of course, I doubt I have one flaw."_

"_First, you look like a human doodlepad, second, you have an IQ span of a candy bracelet, third, you don't fit in with normal society, fourth, you can't read, fifth…."_

"_Alright that's enough," Francis stopped, "so if I improve do you think I have a chance?"_

"_Well, if you improve everything I just said, you have at least a 1/600,000,000 chance. She has a deep love for Tony and also, he is the only reason she's alive and for that matter any of us."_

"_I'll use my charms once she's better to seduce her until then, I'll become friends with Tony's little girl so that once she's better, I can use Heathwhatever to influence Zoey," Francis devised. Louis shook his head, "That is a devious plan it's cold." _

"_What's devious?" _

"_Never mind,_

A/N decided I wouldn't end with sleep, please R+R!


	15. Chapter 15: The Serum

Chapter 15:

Metro University

"I honestly think we should continue to go through this university," Zoey stated.

"This may be the last safehouse in this building so we should rest up," Bill argued.

"I agree with Bill I mean, this is a university, after all, how many safehouses did we even find on the way to the rescue?" Louis asked.

"I say we just to this and get it over with," Francis agreed with Zoey.

"Well, I'm not the one in charge, so it's your call Tony," Zoey stated wishing to end the quarrel.

"We're going in," I replied. We should do this and get out of here, every second we waste here, the infection could find a way to spread to the island which was our last safe zone. I picked up more ammo from the endless pile that lie on the table and reloaded. Francis anxiously opened the door and blew the first zombie's face off. We walked down a silent corridor with no zombie in sight. Francis started speaking, "so when we're rich and famous we should call ourselves Super Heroes or somethin'" Zoey stared at him in puzzlement, "Why would we do that?" she asked. Francis responded with a rare no-it-all remark,"Because we're Tunnel Snakes, and we Rule!" Now everyone was confused, why did he just call us a bunch of Crotches?

"Before I slap you silly, how are we Tunnel Snakes Francis?" Jessica asked.

"Easy, we crawl through tunnels and anytime an unlucky zombie pops up, we strangle it to death with bullets. I already have the theme song, wanna here it?"

"Not really," I told him.

"I got a game that I play

And I call it "Try to beat the morning paper home"

I ain't very good but I get a lot of practice,

Even won once a month ago

Of course there was a girl involved that wasn't gonna let me rest

But I've always said I can sleep when I'm dead.

(Chorus)

If there's somethin' goin' on within a hundred miles from home,

Ya gonna hear my V-8 sing

Long as I can beat the train and they got a passing lane,

Baby, I ain't gonna misss a thing

Life's too fun and I'm too young and the night ain't over yet

Like I said I can sleep when I'm dead.

It ain't no fun if ya ain't got money

So I always make it in to work

The trick is to leave at least a half an hour

To brush my teeth and change my shirt

Keep a closet full of Red Bull and Visine to hide the red

I don't need the rest, I can sleep when I'm dead

(Chorus)

When I get tired, I'll go to bed

All I can say is that it hasn't happened yet

If there's somethin' goin' on within a hundred miles from home,

Ya gonna hear my V-8 sing

Long as I can beat the train and they got a passing lane,

Baby, I ain't gonna misss a thing

Life's too fun and I'm too young and the night ain't over yet

Like I said I can sleep when I'm dead

Like I said

Like I said

I can sleep when I'm dead

(I ain't even tired yet)," Francis sung. Everyone looked at him awkwardly. He CLEARLY must have been one of two things: One, really bored, or two insane.

Something brushed past my leg. I ignored it and kept proceeding down the hall. This time I felt something grab into my pocket. I reached in.

"Alright, which one of you flat foots stole my Chocolate Bar?" I asked as my Hershey's went missing. They all pointed to Francis who shrugged. But, he was ahead of me. How could it have been him? A Boomer came around a corner. It blew chunks of whatever Boomers eat at me. It sprayed my body. This bile stung like acid and apparently attracted the horde because dozens of undead rushed at us. I fired with one hand while trying to wipe the vomit from my eyes with the other. It was a sickly green and stuck like silly putty. Francis yelped as something stole his first aid kit. Gerald went up ahead. We soon saw him scampering on all fours backwards.

"TANK!" Gerald screamed as the ground thudded and a behemoth approached around a corner. We all fired our weapons as the Tank shrugged off the damage. It gave me an uppercut and I flew backwards. I flew like a brick and hit a bookshelf and all the books fell on me. _ Why did Universities have to have a thousand paged science books?_I thought. Moments later out of the darkness, I saw something small scamper about. It was about the size of a Human toddler but scampered on all four legs. There was a scream like a little kid combined with a Hunter and something lodged into the tank's eye. It bellowed with pain and shook itself fiercely. A ruler was now impaled into the eye. "That's my boy!" Gerald shouted at the darkness.

A small Hunter came crawling from the shadows. "What the Devil is that?" Bill muttered as the tiny Hunter scampered onto Gerald's back.

"Duh! It's a Huntlet! God, don't you non-infected know anything?" Gerald asked. "His name's Jeff and he can't speak as of now but he does know the common sense not to eat anything bigger than he is," Gerald stated. I stared at the Huntlet in fascination. He was just like any other Hunter only smaller, he even had a miniature hoodie. I shook my head clear and we entered the laboratory which was a lot closer than I thought. Inside a light shown on a beaker of a purple liquid. The smell of death filled the air. Something in my gut told me something was wrong.

Heather tugged at my pants leg. She pointed towards a nearby bottle of Coke that was on a table. It was moving back and forth. I studied it when a shadow glided across the room. I saw a red light under the table. It was flashing and appeared to be on a plate.

"OH NO HIT THE DECK!" I yelled as the bomb detonated. A group of Chinese appeared behind the tables and opened fire. We ran back into the Hallway and behind cover. The AK-47s fired non-stop at us. It seemed as someone went to reload, another one fired. I pulled the pin on my last grenade and hurtled it at the door way. In about three seconds, a foot flew past my head and smacked Louis in the face.

"I HAVE A PLAN!" Gerald announced as the marauding gunfire streaked closer to us, ripping apart the wooden boxes that no one had hidden behind. Before I knew it, Gerald flew through the air ahead of us and pounced a commando. The impact knocked others out of the way. He would then pounce another, not allowing them a chance to move. We used this opportunity to move into the lab. We took cover and Gerald flew back at us. We now had the upper hand. One of the commando's guns had jammed and he was now using a crappy pistol.

The target in my sight I pulled the trigger. I burst of bullets hit the commando in the nose, killing him. The man next to him stared for a second as the body fell. Aran used this as an opportunity to shove some lead down his throat. Louis saw a canister of pills on a cart nearby.

"PEELZ HERE!" He shouted and jumped on top of a counter with an Uzi in each hand. For a brief moment I thought he had a bandana around his head. _Cug-Cug-Cug-Cug! _The guns yelled as they sprayed the enemy with rounds. The Chinese Commandos fell to the ground, with as many holes poked in them as Swiss Cheese. Francis's eyes were as big as saucers as he tried to piece together what just happened. Why had Louis just gone Rambo on them? I walked into the center of the lab and grabbed the serum. The bottle was cold and carefully contained in it, was the savior of mankind.

I sighed as I grasped the fact that I held the key to Human survival as a species. I looked over and saw Jeff the Huntlet feasting on an arm. One of the Chinese stirred. I saw him slowly grab his pistol. He pulled the hammer back and aimed at Heather. I dove in the way, taking the bullet as the gun fired with a loud crack. Seeing me shot, Gerald flew through the air and pounced the poor idiot. He should of just played dead. Gerald viciously tore the sap limb from limb. I felt my blood pool as I lie on the ground. My chest burned and the others ran over.

"Ughh, clamp down on this bullet, this is gonna hurt," Bill commented and game me a bullet. I put it in my jaw. Zoey came over with a pair of tweezers. She dug them into my flesh and grasped the bullet. I clamped my jaw down so hard I thought I'd split the bullet in half. It fell like she was taking out my heart or liver or something. She grasped the bullet in her hand and filled my bullet wound with the experimental Bio-Foam they had in this lab. This foam fills whatever wound you had and temporarily replaced the dead tissue. The pain was intense. Zoey gave me a mouthful of pain killers and I barely felt woozy. I stood up with barely any of my strength and staggered around a bit getting used the new feeling in my legs.

"There's a motor pool about ummm thirty feet from here, we can use the cars to haul over to the airport for evac," Jessica stated as she got off a nearby computer. I walked assisted by Bill and Gerald.

"I have to say, I never thought an Old Guy would help ME walk," I commented. Bill shook his head and we walked down a short hallway into a garage filled with cars. I pointed at the two Hummer H2's next to eachother. Louis pulled the handle.

"It's locked," He acknowledged. Francis came up to the door.

"Now this, is where my true talent shines," Francis spoke as he picked up a nearby brick, "yeah, this should do it."

"What, you just gonna jam the lock or something?" Zoey asked. Francis shook his head and heaved the rock into the window. It shattered and Francis unlocked the door.

"We could have done that!" Jessica shouted as Francis hotwired the vehicle. Francis got out of the driver's seat and did the same to the other Hummer. I got into the back seat of the first Hummer. I sat against the door and leaned against it. Heather sat next to me and Francis on the other side.

"Hey there little girl I got somethin' for ya," Francis told her as he pulled something out of his vest. He held a small teddy bear in his hand and offered it to Heather. He then talked sweetly to her. Something was fishy about this, and as I was just about to retaliate, the medicine kicked in.

"Jimmy cracked corn and I don't care," I commented, my body taken over by my meds. They all looked at me funny and I just leaned against the window. Louis drove while Tucker rode shotgun. Gerald and Jeff were riding in the other jeep as well as Jessica and Zoey. Our convoy drifted down the road until we reached a supply warehouse. We entered and scrambled into the saferoom as we were pursue by a massive horde. We all breathed easy now that we almost made it out of this crazy area with the cure to the plague.

"Man, I can't wait to be Human again," Gerald commented.

"What's wrong with being a Hunter?" I asked as part of my consciousness came back.

"Well first, I miss having opposable thumbs and being able to walk to a store without being shot at or being discriminated," Gerald told.

"So umm, how are Huntlets made or do I not want to know?" Zoey asked. Gerald thought for a second then answered, "see, when a Witch and a Hunter love each other very much and decide they want a Huntlet they go to their quarters and do stuff. Then in about a week, the Witch lays an egg and inside a mini hunter runs around trying to escape. In one more week, the Huntlet hatches from it's barrier and pounces things like ants and spiders for food. Huntlets grow a lot faster than normal Humans and for every week they grow, they grow similar to a Human's growth in a year. Jeff is just seven weeks old and look at him." Gerald pointed to Jeff who was playing Paddy Cake with Heather with a series of growls.

Zoey soon passed out the food and I merely nibbled it while Gerald and Jeff shoved face full after face full of meat. We had with us the cure to zombiism. Although Super Rabies was a Virus, this little piece of serum contained memory B cells which cause immunity to Super Rabies, plus, unlike most vaccines, this serum can be used to kill anything which the Rabies has infected, simply, injected with this stuff will unmutify you.

Zoey walked over to me. She grasped the beaker in her hands and held it with her eyes beaming. She too realized the importance of this discovery. Heather sat next us now playing with Jeff. They seemed to already be great friends despite having just met eachother. Louis, Francis, and Tucker moved some of the random boxes in the safehouse in front of the saferoom door. We now had one task. One that we had succeeded in before and I would rather do it with no other people. Except maybe without Francis. This task was simply survival. After awhile we dished out the sleeping bags and I started to go to sleep. This was our final fight, against an enemy who if we survived, would be destroyed.

A/N: Thanks for being so patient with me, it has been a while since the last update and this chapter is a little bit shorter than what you're used to but I would personally credit the revival of this story to Gordan-Freeman, he sent me a PM and told me he used some of my characters in history. (It's Left 4 Ever and a delightful read if you get the chance) I have no clue when the next chapter is but please R+R! :) Also, I credit Francis's theme to Jason Michael.


	16. Chapter 16: Russians?

Chapter 16

Russians?

I awoke with a stir. Everyone else had already awaken and were apparently waiting for me. I rose to my feet and reloaded my M-4 and picked up more ammo. Heather was at the back of our group along with Jeff. Francis opened the door and we walked out. Strangely, no zombie was in our sight.

"Wow, Francis, you really must stink, you scared all the zombies away!" I commented as Francis sniffed his arm pits. Subsequently, his eyes watered from the stench. Tucker took point. He slowly moved forward then pointed his two fingers towards the area ahead. I looked for minute then realized he pointed at a cumbersome tank feasting on a dead Chinese Commando.

We all took positions as the Tank began to shuffle around. I fired the first shot. The Tank rushed at us but was quickly cut down by our bullets. The Tank swaggered and fell. It hit a forklift which fired a box into the air. The box then flew near a barricade in an alleyway. Apparently there was some fuel tanks because the barricade erupted into flames.

The Horde screamed and we climbed up a ladder to a platform at the construction site. The Common infected rushed at us in densely populated waves. We exhausted our ammunition as the horde struck. We simply couldn't put enough down before we had to reload. I started to spear the infected. Francis grabbed a nearby 2x4 block of wood and started flailing like a monkey on crack. A stabbed an infected in the face then kicked him off the platform while he was on the knife. Francis bsashed the last infected in the face, blooding heavily, the zombie backed away and fell of the platform. It hit the ground with a crack and died.

The barricade was now smoldering ashes and a path formed clearly up ahead. We took off in a sprint and attempted go as far as we could, as fast as we could. Another Horde shrieked a shrill screech as we rounded a corner. A smoker lined the roof. I aimed my rifle and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. The gun jammed. I groaned as the gun clicked but did not fire. The chamber would look like it shot but it would stop. I attempted to unjam the weapon by pulling back a lever. A large pink tongue flew before my eyes.

The tongue wrapped around me and started to pull me in. I looked up and realized the surprisingly dry tongue was now pulling me high into the air. I was a good three feet high when I shouted, "HELP!" Bill pivoted and fired a burst of rounds. The smacked into the face of the smoker. He comically flew away and off the building. I turned to see a massive automobile fly at me. It hit me, and the pain, as well as some injured organs, knocked me to the ground. I saw three more cars fly into the alley way crippling the rest of us in this order: Gerald, Zoey, Louis, Francis, Bill, Tucker, Jessica. I blacked out about a second later to see THREE tanks running at our tattered corpses.

I awoke an hour later on a small cot. I was in a tent of some sort and the first thing I noticed were the red colors. _Chinese, crap I've been captured by Hong and his men!_ I thought.

"Da! You're awake!" A voice said in a stiff accent. I squinted as my eyes adjusted to the change in light. A tall uniformed figure stood on my right. He held out a hand which I grabbed and he helped me up. "We didn't think you were going to make it Major, you took some pretty bad injuries. How do you feel?" He asked

"Really, really shitty, this city sucks," I commented as I felt down my leg. I noticed the flag had a red, a white, and a blue stripe on it. Okay, so they're not Chinese, they're Russians. "Wait, lemme guess, you're here to take control of this country too aren't you?" I asked.

"No, we are here because we heard you had a problem with a zombie outbreak. We had one similar, we know how you feel. Plus, we want a free trade agreement with your wealthy nation," The man spoke.

"Do you speak English fluently?" I inquired.

"Enough so."

"We need to get to the airport, there's a plane that will take us outta here, do you want to come with us?"

"No, but we I will send two of my men to accompany you once you reach there. They will help you stave off the Horde. By the way, I'm Polkovniv Nikolav, I am commander of Outpost Stalin, our foothold in America," Nikolav introduced.

"Where are we?" I asked as I blatantly looked around.

"My friend, you are in the terminal to the airport. You are just outside a gate to the runway. Once outside, there is a Cargo plane waiting on the runway, it is Americana and just needs refueled." With that, I now walked around the tent.

"Where are the others?" I asked as I saw no one else in the tent.

"They are outside, in separate tents," He concluded. I exited and saw every indication of a camp, except it was IN the airport. Literally, there were tents, and even walls made from scrap metal. They made guard towers and had Spetznaz, Russian special forces, with AK-47s and Dragunov sniper rifles positioned in them. I looked and saw four other tents. One was bigger than the others, one had what appeared to be, a med-bay, and the other two were barracks. I went in the barracks and saw Zoey, Jessica, Jeff, to my surprise Gerald, and Heather. In the other tent, Francis, Louis, Bill, and Tucker sat playing cards.

I woke up the others in the female tent and then assembled the final four others in the second tent and we prepared to leave. A Russian opened the gate with a winch and we slowly stepped out. We then sprinted to the gate A1 and entered the "official" safehouse. Once inside, we immediately stocked on ammo and got next to the door. Another flashback clouded my vision.

_I was back in the frozen streets of Volgograd. It was filthy with decay and dying were everywhere. Captain Smith and I entered an abandoned apartment building. The cold, dry air slapped against my hidden face. I was in full camouflage, balaclava and everything. I fired a small shot from my silenced M21 at a Russian who was peeing on a tree alone. It was so quiet, it seemed almost as if he had gotten a heart-attack and died we reached the roof of the hotel and I took out my binoculars. I observed as a meeting went on in the parking lot seven stories below and at least 300 meters. I mounted the .50 Caliber Sniper Rifle we had brought with us, disassembled of course to assassinate this top figure in the Russian defense. I put the butt of the weapon against my shoulder and watched through the scope. I applied one pound of pressure, or so we were told before this mission. It was said that two pounds of pressure were needed to fire a weapon. _

_I sighted the diplomat in the crosshairs of my rifle I was just about to fire when an MI-24 helicopter flew in front of the building. Blind as a bat the helicopter scanned the building. Either he look where we were, or two bushes were common sights peering out of a window watching a top priority target. He flew away and I adjusted again to see the target. I pulled the trigger. A fifty caliber bullet whizzed through the air. It slammed into the guy next to the diplomat, tearing off his arm. The diplomat grasped for a second what he was doing and started to run for a car. I pulled the trigger again and missed, but it hit the gas tank of the car igniting the car into a hellish inferno. I muttered a curse then fired a third time. Boom! Headshot! The man's head flew clear off his body and landed in a fire, which then engulfed the scalp in flame. The heli came back and was shocked to see a bush brandishing a sniper rifle which just killed a military figure. I put a bullet in the face of the pilot, and the helicopter tumbled to the earth with an explosion. I got off the sniper rifle and pulled out my smaller M-21 and reached the repelling ropes. Smith and I repelled down the wall as rockets whizzed above, destroying where we just had been. We sprinted across a street bullets whizzed around. _

_During this entire time, the only thing that I thought of was, this is a great time for Dr. Pepper's motto 'what's the worst that could happen?' I grabbed the nearest AK-47 nearby and fired a pat-pat-pat at the approaching Russkis. We ran into an open field. I sniped some advancing Russians with my sniper rifle then watched as another helicopter came. _

_"SNIPE THE BASTARD!" Smith cussed as the helicopter came. I fired a few shots and the pilot died. There was a sputtering and I saw before my eyes what was about to happen. I took off running in the opposite direction. Smith turned around just in time to see the helicopter crashing towards him. It broke through a fence and skidded on the ground with the propeller still turning slowly. "CRAP RUN!" He yelled. He stumbled and the Helicopter slowly came to where he was. His back to the propeller, he put his arms against it trying to move it away. The propeller then slowly pushed against his back……_

The flashback stopped, apparently the Russians forgave us after that horrid war. We thought Communist hostalities were over, peace would ensue. We were wrong. Five years of hell had followed with over six hundred thousand men lost. The Caucasus mountains were now the Caucasus Valley from use of Nuclear weapons. Russia suffered a zombie outbreak because of Swine Flu having mutated so much it wasn't recognizable.

Outside I gazed at our run to the air field. "Look!" Louis pointed as an airplane did a sharp turn our way. I crouched as the plane hit the ground and erupted into an inferno. Ear splitting sounds of metal being torn in half. It then followed with an explosion. We all stared at it for a second and muttered our own aahhhs and oooohs. I always thought a plane crash was supposed to be bigger. We ran off of the gate walk and landed on the ground below. We all quickly dispatched the zombies there. We then ran to the runway where a fuel truck sat connected to a plane.

"HEY YOU THERE! GAS ME UP AND WE CAN FLY OUTTA HERE!" A small radio shouted near the fuel tank. Everyone said they were ready though I knew we weren't. My sweaty hands grasped the fuel pump lever and I made a short prayer that God spare me. I pulled down the winch. The loud bulky noise of the pump sounded and the horde screeched. Panic gripped around me as I mounted the chain gun. I quickly grasped control of myself again and made sure Heather was safely hidden under the truck. I started sprayin' and prayin' as zombies started to drop. The gun over heated and I speedily fanned it with my arm until I could send more bullets to rip through a zombie.

There was a howl as Gerald tasted the taste of zombie blood. His eyes went red and he started flying around the area, stabbing and biting every infected he saw. I spotted a Smoker in the corner of my eye. With a tongue extended, it constricted Jessica and she started to drift into the sea of zombies. A quick shot from Aran and she fled back to safety. The ground shook as a tank approached. I saw a baggage cart fly past me striking Zoey. I peppered the tank full of holes and yet it continued advancing. It lack brain capacity because it ran through fire in a pit ahead, lit on fire, and died.

"Get up Zoey I'm sick of dragging your sorry butt around!" I yelled at her as I began reviving her. The scream of a horde approached Zoey rose to her feet and capped a zombie behind me. I swiveled and kicked a zombie in the gut. I then took out my M-4 and continued firing. Another Tank approached. This one went down rather easy to our combined fire.

"THE FUEL GAUGE IS UP GET IN GET IN!" The radio screamed as the ramp fell onto the plane. I grabbed Heather from under the truck and mounted her on my shoulders. I sprinted onto the plane and through her in. As we all got in, Gerald got pulled by a smoker. I fired at the zombie which popped. The ramp started closing and Gerald leapt on. We pulled him in as the door closed and we took off.

"WE DID IT! OH YEAH MAN WE ARE ALIVE!" Zoey shouted with delight. Heather squealed with joy as she recovered her balance and enjoyed hobbling around the plane.

"Now I'm so happy, no sadness in sight….," Louis sang.

"I swear, if you sing that damn song one more time I will skin you," Francis threatened. I listened to the pilot's radio.

_This is Safe Point Echo, we are Uniform November Delta Echo Romeo Alpha Tango Tango Alpha Charlie Kilo! All rescues are to call in immediately! _

Joy spread through the survivors like a virus. We were singing cheerful songs and telling stories most of us had heard four thousand times. The young ones played and skipped about the cabin. The plane made a sharp bank left and we saw the door to the cockpit open. A man dressed in US Airforce Uniform stepped outside with the pilot mask covering his eyes.

"We are about ten minutes away from evac zone Echo, I suggest you get ready because apparently the outpost is a hot zone," the pilot spoke, he then left without an introduction.

"What is a hot zone?" Louis asked as he swallowed hard.

"A hot zone means the Army is currently engaging the enemy in this location. It's "hot" because there is a strong enemy presence. If I were you I'd load my weapons," I answered. We sat in silence for the rest of the flight. The plane banked sharply and we felt it touchdown on a runway. It jerked as the flaps went up and the engines rotated in the opposite direction slowing the plane down. The ramp went down and we ran outside.

"Ohhhh no," Bill moaned as we saw fire licking the sky. We sprinted full speed towards the camp. There was a gash in the wall that surrounded the base connected to land. We walked through the gash and saw a tragedy. Wounded were being helped about by those with able bodies. Fire from some of the tents made the sky an Apocalyptic red.

"Soldier, what the hell happened?" I asked a soldier who was limping by. He broke into tears.

"They came out of nowhere! *sniffle* They had artillery and soldiers by the thousands. They…They….killed him! The General is DEAD!" he cried.

"Who came? The Zombies?" I asked fearing the worst.

"NO THE F^&#!ng COMMUNISTS! THOSE CHINESE BASTARDS CAME FROM THE DARKNESS WITH RAFTS AND HELICOPTERS! An Artillery barrage hit us and wiped out the General as he took a stroll. The officer's quarters was completely leveled. Then they rushed. The ones who weren't dead fought for survival. Eventually, the radio kicked on and air support was able to assist. They have an outpost up the river."

"My God….How many casualties?" I asked.

"Sir, one-third of the base has been whipped out. The highest ranking soldier is now Sergeant Nicolas. But wait, by God…I can't believe it!"

"What?"

"You're…..You're Major Franks. You are the one who left the base for some cure or something."

"Yep, and this, my friend is the cure." I held the small beaker out in my hand.

"We need you at our temporary HQ now! You are a savior! "

"Hey, my friends here helped, they deserve something too," I nagged.

"Oh ho ho! We can't forget them! All of you, follow me!" With that, the once pitiful soldier now held his head high with confidence. We walked through the destroyed camp. Tents were completely leveled, fire rose from the Quonset hut barracks that weren't flattened. The Helipads were cracked with smoke rising from cracks. Shell craters lined the ground. Gruesome and gore-filled sights lined everywhere. Civilians missing legs, soldiers completely disfigured with blood pooling. Wounded soldiers tended their own wounds as well as civilians as the Field Hospital was destroyed. I looked amongst the ranks of perfectly good young men, they survived the apocalypse only to be killed by an attack. As I passed soldiers, they suddenly cheered up a little and were now sad, not grim, griefridden, and devastated. They applauded as I held out the small test tube.

I stared at the bodies of two civilians. They were middle-aged and blown to smithereens. I'd say they were about sixty years of age. I stared closely at their dead faces. Eyes were still wide with alarm as the first of the cannon rounds hit them. I stared for a second then was struck with grief and hate. I gestured for Gerald to come over here.

"Recognize them?" I asked. Behind the hoodie, Gerald's red eyes grew wide. He slightly quivered his blood stained lips.

"They killed Mom and Dad," Gerald whimpered. I could tell he was on the brink of tears. My parents couldn't be dead, no these are two people who look like them. After all, this camp was lousy with people.

"Dude, these aren't them," I denied.

"Yeah they are, look at Dad's birthmark behind his right ear," Gerald fought back on the verge of crying.

"Anyone can have that," I fought back, Gerald simply shook his head.

"Come on kid, you're in denial they are dead," Bill informed. I didn't need some old coot's advice. THESE AREN'T THEM! I screamed in thought. We kept continuing the walk. We came to a small tent. A sergeant was inside.

"Ahhh, if it isn't the Major. Listen, the hour is late now, how about you get some sleep, and we talk about this in the morning?" He spoke, he then clapped his hands and four marines came to us.

"We are ordered to escort you to your barracks," a Private said. One of the soldiers grabbed Zoey's arm.

"Hey let her go," I spoke with anger, I didn't want to lose her too.

"Sergeant's orders sir, with so few females, she needs protection, we are assigning her and the other one their own barrack, they will be placed under guard," The Private explained.

"Alright, then the choice is yours. Let go of the lady, or lose the arm. It's your choice so make a decision quick," I felt anger seep into my eyes. The Marine noticed the spark and let go of Zoey and backed away slowly.

"Hey, you did one things that no nation has ever been even able to dream of," Jessica spoke, "you made the Marines retreat."

We were led to two barracks. In one Zoey, Gerald, Jeff, Heather, Jessica and I slept, while the rest slept in the other.

"Hey! A bar!" Francis perked up as he noticed the Golden Flask bar. Though not a drinker I felt like I wanted to go.

"I'm a…," I started.

"Go ahead, I'll wait for you at the barrack," Zoey replied. I walked to the bar. Francis was playing pool and as usual, found some way to cheat. I walked up to the counter where the bartender was washing a tankard with a cloth.

"Whadya want?" The Bartender asked.

"Gimme a Budweiser," I ordered. I put a slab of cash to pay for it. One of the soldiers in the bar came up.

"Ahh, if it isn't the Major from Mission Impossible," The man said as he patted me on the back. I took a swig of the drink the coughed it up. Now I remembered why I didn't drink.

"Uhhh, hello," I blatantly said. I had no clue who this guy was.

"Yeah, word is goin' around the base on how you fought through legions of Chinese, met the Russki's and still was able to grab the vaccine. You're like Batman or something now," The man explained.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Oh, where are my manners, my name is Private Sanders sir." I shook his hand.

"Yeah I bet you know this but, Major Tony Franks at ease Private, you don't need to salute me."

"Sir, yes sir. Hey Bar keep! We need two buds here!"

"I don't drink," I told him.

"Who said one was for you?" He joked. "You got any good stories?" He asked.

"I'll tell you one if you tell me exactly what happened here," I bargained.

"Yeah, a grim scene that was. Anyway, I was on patrol with Sergeant Wilks, Corporal Dawson, and Private Miller. We had just finished our route of the area when I saw movement. I called it out like any soldier was told to and we investigated it. As we did, three Chinese Commandos burst out of the bushes. Wilks was shot immediately at point blank range with a silenced pistol. I got shot here," He said as he pointed to his leg. Dawson and Miller shot the other three immediately after that happened. We started back to report to base when we heard several large booms. We hit the deck as the first barrage of rocket strikes flew over the walls and bombarded the base. We slowly crawled towards the base as the second barrage flew over head. We stood up and ran dead sprint as two MI-24 gunships whizzed in the horizon. They began firing. I watched as machine gun rounds tore apart Miller. Dawson and I made it to base. The base was on fire and we waved a messenger down as we explained the attack. Other soldiers ran to the top of the walls. They fired Stinger anti-air missiles and shot down the two heli's. T-34 tanks approached the base. We mounted LAW rocket launchers and fired. We had one mortar we had from pre-apocalyptia. We halted the tanks and many men were killed as rockets struck the walls creating that huge crater at the top you can see. The few survivors fought bravely as the infantry from China launched an attack. Firing like a trigger-happy monkey on crack, the final Chinese retreated. Then what seemed to be an army of a thousand tanks and infantry attacked. At this time, radio suddenly clicked on and we relayed our distress signal to Outpost Delta down the river. Within three minutes, a squadron of ten Apache gunships came in like crusaders and the Chinese crumbled. In all, two hundred military personnel were lost as well as about one thousand civilians."

I told him our tale of going through Fairfield with Mercy Hospital and all that had occurred. He nodded and soaked up the information.

"Well, sir, I will see you tomorrow, you look like you got a damsel in distress," He pointed to the door where Zoey stood beckoning me to come over. I walked over.

"Are you too wasted to understand this or can you help me?" she asked with a hint of worry in her harsh sentence.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's Heather, she is simply staring out the window and laughing she then points when I look. She says "man" but I don't see anything," She explained clearly worried. I followed her to the barrack where Heather sat staring out the window. As we walked in, she said, "Daddy look, man!" So I guess now I was her "daddy" but now wasn't the time for that. I walked up to the window and couldn't see anything. I walked closer to the window and looked outside. I thought I saw something. I didn't I started to turn around when a figure leapt onto my face. Heather and Zoey laughed and high-fived eachother. It turns out I was pounced by Jeff.

"You know what? Whatever, I need to go to sleep, unlike SOME people, I got to command a base tomorrow. Good night y'all." I pulled of the blankets of my cot and someone approached from behind.

"Hey, you're not out of this yet!" Zoey said behind me. She grabbed my arm and I spun around. She immediately locked me into a long passionate kiss. We held for about five seconds until we broke away. I staggered back.

"That, was worth surviving," I said as I stumbled into bed and a few moments later fell asleep. Dreaming on the final hour of Operation Thor: the assassination of the Russian Diplomat.

**Finally! I finished this chapter! No promises yet but my next chap may come earlier now that school is winding down. To all my fans thank you's again deserve to go out to not me, but Gordon-Freeman. Read his story Left 4 Ever! You should thank him because in my opinion, in chapter 15, he SAVED THE STORY. Please review, even if you're too lazy, copy and paste one of these reviews.**

**OMG YOU ARE A GOD! PUBLISH NEXT CHAPTER NAO!**

**Ehhh, it was okay, you should keep writing**

**I can do better than that**

**You suck and should fall off a cliff if you don't I'll push you!**

**L01 I r t3h 1337 pWnZ3r **


	17. Chapter 17: It's War!

**Chapter 17:**

I wandered about the camp the next day. I entered the command tent.

"Ahh, Franks, good morning sir," Nicolas spoke, "things aren't going well."

"What is going on?" I asked as a grimace showed on the crevices on his face.

"We just got intel that a horde is barreling our way. It is numbering in the thousands and there are several punctures in the wall. That is why I am appointing you CO of the base. These men's lives are in your hands now, don't fail for America will likely die if your mission fails," Nicolas spoke with harshness. I immediately walked to the 3-D map of the camp. A Sergeant walked up.

"What are our forces in the immediate area?" I asked the sergeant.

"Sir! Sergeant Thomas Davidson intelligence department reporting as ordered sir! We have a total of seven hundred soldiers ready to fight! Alpha, Baker and Charlie Companies Alpha is a heavy weapons unit. They have one mortar, three 88 mm cannons, four LAW launchers, four .50 caliber machine guns, and two NLF 57 mm recoilless rifles the entire company contains 75 soldiers. Baker and Charlie Companies are made of infantry, they each have 125 men each. There is a Tank platoon in Charlie Company consisting of four M1A1 Abrams tanks," Davidson reported.

"Get me Alpha company commander," I ordered as I gazed at the 3-D map. The walls were penetrated in three areas, I tried to think of how to position the soldiers, now is when three years of studying military strategy comes into play. If I put all companies at each -entrance, they could be swarmed and cut to pieces. I took the 3-D tanks and placed them at each entrance, One per entry with one in backup. I would divide supporting infantry into groups of 31 soldiers to accompany each tank. Alpha company artillery batteries would be placed at the rear of the base. The machine guns, LAW launchers and rockets would go above the wall on the catwalks. Bravo team would hang back for reinforcements. A tall man in Army BDU's with shades covering his eyes entered.

"Sir, Sergeant Major James Duff reporting as assigned as emergency company CO sir!" the man said in a deep voice.

"Sergeant, you're about to play key role in this battle. Follow me to the briefing table," I said as we walked to the 3-D map, "you are to position your 88 mm cannons and the mortar here, at the back of the base. You are to position the other men at the catwalks of the base here on top of the walls. They are to stem the tide of the horde with explosives, do not fire the LAW's and Recoiless Rifles unless heavy opposition is faced. Do your job well and we'll put some cold beer on ice for you. Good luck, Dismissed!" I briefed. Duff ran outside and assembled his men into position.

I then waited as the messenger fetched the CO of Bravo Company. I prayed to God that we would survive this battle. If we die, America dies with us.

Shortly later, a U.S. Marine in full uniform approached me. "Sir, Staff Sergeant Michael C. Hanson reporting sir," he spoke. Mike and I shared a past back during the early days of the infection, I know he saved my hide more than once.

"Ahhh Mike, just like back in Fairfield, the infection is upon us. I have promoted to Master Gunnery Sergeant and you are now tasked with leading Bravo company, they consist of 125 Marines armed to the teeth with weapons. You are to reinforce the three main breeches if the time is needed."

"Okay Major Franks," Hanson spoke.

"Please, call me Tony like back in the good ol' days man," I replied.

"Whatever, what are our armements?"

"Each Marine is equipped with an M4A1 Assault Rifle with an MP5 in secondary. Each soldier holds three frag grenades and four grenades for the launcher. You have M2 bayonet attachments and for your snipers, we have a .50 cal sniper and the rest are M21's. Good luck man, and don't die out there," I ordered as he walked out. I was personally going to lead Charlie Company, seeing me there might increase morale allowing better fighting.

I exited the tent before hitting the armory, I stopped at my barrack. I walked up to Heather, she was in a corner watching the wood.

"Hey, listen," I told her soothingly, "dad is going to go to work, I want you to be a good girl for Zoey." Her bottom lip stuck out and slightly quivered. "Don't worry, I will be right back. Just stay in the barrack with Zoey and I promise I will come back. Okay?" I asked. She nodded. I gave her a hug that was as much for my reassurance as it was hers. I then walked up to Zoey who was watching one of the few T.V.s in the base. "Listen, there is a big attack about to occur by the horde. I need you to stay here and watch Heather for me please," Zoey turned around and stood up.

"So what, you're just going to go hero on us and command your troops to the death?" she asked harshly.

"Hey! I'm not going hero! And please, for my confidence, do talk about death until I'm back. Listen, I know you don't like it but I have to do this, if I don't lead these men, this camp will die. Besides, Heather needs you, she might not see her dad again and I need you to comfort her through this time," I explained. Zoey crossed her arms.

"Okay, I'll do it, on one condition though," she bargained.

"Name it," I asked.

"Promise me you will come back no matter what."

"I promise." She gave a nice firm hug and then I departed the barrack. I walked into the parade meeting field.

"MEN AND WOMEN OF AMERICA! WE ARE BUT THE LAST SEED OF THE ONCE PROUD TREE KNOWN AS AMERICA! WE ARE HERE TODAY TO FIGHT OFF THE ENEMY THAT SO WISHES TO KILL THIS EXTINGUISHED PLANT. ARE WE HERE TO LET THEM? NO! WE ARE THE ARMY AND MARINES AND WE SHALL NOT FAIL! OORAH AND OOAH!" I spoke in a loud speech. The soldiers cheered and ran to their posts. I ran to the front gate where an Abrams with the name Cadaver Killer written on the side. I looked about the small group of 31 men. Private Sanders from the night before was one of them. I looked out and saw the horde barreling towards us. I knew that of all days, this was the day our country would be tested the most.

---------Private Sanders POV 3rd person------------

Sanders saw the hordes of dead running straight for the camp. He waited for the Major to give the order. He heard the sound of artillery. _Bum Bum Bum BOOM BOOM BOOM! _The guns sounded as explosive shells flew in the hordes. Machine Gun fire erupted from overhead as the horde came closer. Before they knew it, a hundred infected slammed into us. They fired at close range at the horde. Sanders pulled out his shot gun and pumped lead into one's face. He was tackled from behind as a zombie jumped him. He fell to the ground when suddenly, the zombie fell limp. He pushed it off and noticed the Major on top of the tank reloading his 9mm. Too many zombies were coming and men started dropping like flies. Suddenly, the horde stopped rushing.

Sanders watched as the horde slowly started dying. Sanders felt a bad feeling in his stomach. He counted and saw only 26 of the original 31 men remained alive. The ground vibrated and a rocket flew past Sanders and hit the tank. It blew up and Franks was sent flying through the air, landing on the ground hard. He stood up clearly wounded. He wouldn't let the medics take him, he insisted on remaining fighting. Chinese soldiers poked up and started firing bullets at the men. Sanders scrambled for cover behind the tank. He watched as the man next to him lost the top half of his skull as a bullet flew into it. The Chinese were endless. They continued firing and advancing. Four helicopters were flying towards them. They all exploded as a stroke of nothing but pure luck occurred and an artillery round hit each. The helis flew to the ground except one which kept spinning out of control. It hit the upper catwalks causing a good thirty men to fall to their deaths.

"Bravo, this is Charlie, we need some help now!" Franks called into a radio. Marines started advancing and Franks took a bullet to the shoulder. Sanders crawled over and dragged him out of the way. Sanders then froze, he felt liquid oozing down his head. Sanders then collapsed over, dead.

-------Tony Franks original POV--------

I stared as I saw Sanders go down. Our numbers were dwindling and I could feel the battle being lost. Then something clicked in my head I got on the radio and called an old friend. I sat against the tank, staring at the onslaught of Chinese barreling towards us. I drew my pistol and fired. I dropped one then ran out of ammo. My body grew weak as the injuries affected me. Help seemed like it would never come. The ground vibrated as Helicopters dropped about two hundred Russian soldiers on the right side of the Chinese attack. The Chinese focused then on them.

"Now men! Follow me to glory!" I ordered as I grabbed as shotgun off a fallen comrade and led the charge. Four hundred Marines and U.S. Army soldiers followed as ran straight at them. The Chinese panicked seeing how they were now flanked. We took cover then fired. Our boys from Delta Base flew overhead. Ten Apaches fired now with lethal accuracy. The Chinese now attempted to retreat but artillery blocked their escape. They ran through the artillery and the last of the Commandos were blown to pieces. Every soldier cheered. We raised our guns above our heads and yelled a victory cry. I couldn't believe it, we survived the attack.

I fell to the ground as my strength holding me up from the exploding tank extinguished and I dropped and my eyes blacked out.

I woke in the middle of a MASH hospital at our camp. I opened my eyes and briefly looked around the room. Only Zoey was there. My meds must've been strong because I still felt tired.

"Wow, once again, you survive," commented Zoey.

"You know me, when I make a promise…," I started.

"You keep it….," she finished.

"Where's Heather?" I asked as I coughed.

"She's out playing with the other kids. You know, Jimmy, Stan, and Emily." I relaxed a bit. "You need your rest, why don't you go to sleep and I will wake you up once it is time," Zoey suggested. I closed my eyes and sleep encompressed me.

**Short I now, but never the less, a battle. Feel free to review, any and all are appreciated. What will happen next on Left 5 Dead!?!?! Just wait or be my best friend to know bye! Also, Michael Hanson is Gordon-Freeman's character from the best story for left 4 dead in my opinion, Left 4 Ever Read it or else! :D nahh but well, anyway……**


	18. Chapter 18: Trouble on the Homefront

**Chapter 18:**

**The Others**

I awoke in the Hospital. I felt like everyone bone in my body was broken. I ached as I slowly sat up in my cot. I swiveled my head around slowly and old veins as well as the muscles popped like when you cracked your knuckles. The back of my head was sore so I rubbed it. I crackled open my eyes and stared around. I saw Heather running, she grabbed the cuffs of a doctor nearby and led him over. He noticed I was okay.

I attempted to stand but sat down again once I noticed how stiff I was. I moaned and whiped the sweat off my forehead.

"Well, considering you were almost blown apart limb from limb you sure are in good condition," the doctor said, "stand up, get a feel for walking again." I rose to my feet and felt the lactic acid make my legs like bricks. I waddled around bowlegged for a while trying to push the acid out of the legs and into the blood stream. The other soldiers laughed at this pathetic attempt.

"Hey! At least I didn't get shot in the crotch Private! Do you understand the irony of that?" I hollered to a soldier snickering loudly. This shut him up.

"Move around a little, get a feel for it, when you're ready you may leave for you are now as fully healed as you can get. We removed all of the shrapnel and your appendix which had been damaged, it is in that jar over there," He pointed to a jar with the lid off, the jar was filled with water and my appendix floated in it. A pigeon entered the tent and looked around. It noticed my appendix in the jar, flew over, snatched it, then began to fly away.

"COME BACK HERE WITH MY ORGAN YOU DANG BIRD!" I called as I angrily shook my fist at the bird flying away. I walked around a little bit until Heather ran at me, I braced for impact as her tackle almost knocked her off my feet. She wore a pink t-shirt with white sweatpants, her loose blonde hair hung down to her six-year-old shoulders. Her emerald green eyes were wide with concern. "_I'm okay," _I whispered to her. Her gaze shifted to the door of the tent. She led me outside of the tent pulling my arm. As I was tugged back to the barrack, the reactions of soldiers seeing a bowlegged major being pulled by a six-year-old girl varied. Some soldiers laughed at this weird sight. Others cheered as the Major who won the battle walked by with his little girl. Others ignored the sight and kept doing whatever they were doing.

We entered the barrack and Zoey sat on the couch watching TV again. I listened for a second, "_It seems today that all you see is violence in movies and sex on Tv._

But, Where are those good ol' fashion values ...  
... on which we used to rely?  
Lucky theres a Family Guy!  
Lucky theres a man who, positively can do all the thing that make us ...

...Laugh and cry!

He's a Fam-ily Guuuuuuuuuuuuy!" I snuck up behind her.

"What are we watching?" I asked, she jumped at the suddenness of sound other than the sound and picture box.

"Holy crap you seem okay," she commented on my almost completely returned-to-normal form. She grabbed the color of my shirt to lean in for a kiss. I put my hand infront of my lips blocking it. She looked hurt.

"What? There's kids and whatever you call Gerald around," I asked, "anything new happen recently?"

"Yeah, this new type of defense team, the Pentagonal Armada of Troops or P.A.T. has taken Fairfield back from the infected, in a turn of events, Riverfront was nuked yesterday. There is nothing alive there. Also, there is a radio station called ANR American News Radio which now reports news updates such as "Tony Franks heroic defense of Safezone Echo" as well as play preapocalyptic songs for anyone with a working radio to hear. Also, the base here is getting ready for an attack against Metro City, this is believed to be the last Chinese stronghold as well as a spawning hub for Super Rabies, simply, if we kill it, we will have a lot less zombies to deal with in this area. Some Michael guy also wanted to see you when you got better," She explained. I nodded and exited the barracks. I went in search of Michael Hanson who was one of the few Michaels on base with any status here.

I found him in the command tent. He was in full uniform and sitting at my desk. "Ahh Major, or should I say LTC because as of yesterday, the base voted you to be promoted Lieutenant Colonel. On an unrelated note, our expedition found this," Hanson explained as he pulled a pulley lifting a veil. On the ground in front of me sat at a five foot tall Plutonium bomb. In white paint written on the black metal casing was the label _Fat Man. We had a Nuke on the base_ I thought. I gawked at the sight of so much fire power. This bomb destroyed Hiroshima. It will incincerate trees, burn the ground, cause buildings to crumble, flesh to bubble and ooze off humans.

"So, now what Gunny?" I asked Michael.

He spoke, "we are going to need all companies up and ready, the base should start sending out patrols and we need to establish contact with Safezones Delta, Foxtrot and Charlie. I suggest you send a platoon of men. Well, that is all, the base is now back under your hands, disssssmissssed!" Hanson briefed. I nodded and he left the tent. The first thing I should do is scout the rest of the island. I grabbed two 3-D (prewar) soldier popups from an Axis and Allies board game. On a display of the known surroundings, I moved the two units along. The ends of our small camp. I saw where the part of the base connected to the land was.

Alright, we need to know what is out there. "Secretary get me two of our Veteran Squad Leaders," I spoke into an intercom. I wondered if this plan would do better than the last one. Two Sergeants entered the room. 

"Sir, this is Sergeant John Welsh and Sergeant Peter Stief reporting as ordered sir!" Welsh announced snapping a salute.

"At ease sergeant. Alright, as you men know, we are going to get ready for an offensive. But first we need to find out what else is on this terrain of ours. Your two squads are going to survey the terrain. You will patrol the rest of this island and report back to me with any important findings," I briefed.

"Sir, rules of engagement?" Stief asked.

"Weapons free." This meant that the squads would open fire if they found anything hostile.

"What ordinance are we packing?" Welsh asked.

"Fireteam material. In your four man squads you each have 1 SAW LMG with recoil guard attachments, 2 M4A1 Carbines with ACOG scopes, and one M40A1 Sniper Rifle with 6x and 12x zoom attachments. You can get your weapons and ammo in the armory. Good luck out there, we have no clue what you'll be facing, diiiissssmmiiiisssed." A thought struck me and I thought myself such a fool. I had completely forgotten about the vaccine. I unsheathed the purple bottle and exited the tent. I ran to the top of the large hill in which the small laboratory rested. I pushed open the door and entered the chilling room. There was a body on a cot and a scientist anxiously pried at the flesh with tweezers.

"Uhh, where's Doctor Rieck?" I asked the scientist. He turned around and took off the mouth protector.

"Deb didn't make it, she was hit as the first of the bombs hit. I am doctor James Drake, Head of Scientific Development in Safezone Echo," Drake spoke.

"English please," I spoke confused.

"I'm the main scientist now. Do you have the vaccine?" Drake asked.

"Yeah, here it is," I held out the beaker. James marveled at the immunity in a jar.

"Eureka!" James shouted.

"Please don't say that."

"Sorry, I'll begin analyzing this immediately." With this I exited the building and walked outside. A crow cawed in the air and flew overhead towards the residential area of the camp. The Sun's warm embrace enveloped me and I felt great to be alive. I saw Zoey sprinting up the hill. Sweat dripped from her face and she paused infront of me and gasped for air.

"What's wrong?" I asked as she bent low trying to catch her breath. I could tell by the look in her face that something was wrong.

"Hhhhhh……….Heather……Something's…………Something's wrong……..," she gasped.

"What happened?" I asked steadying her.

"I was on the couch watching TV……. And I heard gasping, I turn around and Heather is on the floor, breathing heavily. I look around and found a bottle, it had no label. That is when I ran to you," she explained. I then took off in a dead sprint. I don't think I never ran faster. It seemed like an eternity but I finally reached the barrack. I kicked open the door in an adrenaline filled rush. I heard heavy breathing which was a good and bad sign. The good thing was that she was alive, the bad thing was something was wrong. I looked down and saw that my little girl was curled in a ball. She was breathing heavily and soaked with sweat. She still shivered despite the heat. I scooped her up in my arms and took off running. I finally reached the Sick Bay and kicked open that door as well.

"IS THERE A DOCTOR IN HERE?" I called at nothing. A head looked up and nodded.

"Give the girl to me," the man spoke. I put Heather in his arms.

"If you hurt her in any way, I will feed you to my brother," I threatened. He nodded then put her on one of the stretcher cots and disappeared down the hallway. Several other EMTs showed up and ran after him. A blonde secretary sitting at a desk in a lab coat stared at me."You may want to leave and do something else, Doctor Jagle said this could take a very long time and I don't have the qualification to tell you what they think is wrong." I feared the worst and walked out with my shoulders slumped. A soldier ran at me.

"Sir, another survivor has just arrived on base. She awaits you at the main gate," The Private briefed. I jogged to the main gate, or what remains of it. A woman in bloodied BDU's and by bloodied I mean it seemed like she had made love to ketchup.

"I guess you're the CO of this safe zone?" The woman asked tugging at her bunned, brown hair. She had a scent on her that I could remember from somewhere.

"As of a few days ago, yeah that's me," I spoke, "well, first thing's first. Do you have any history with the military?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Did you serve the military?"

"Yes."

"What branch?"

"31st National Guard, Fireteam Charlie."

"What was your rank?"

"Master Sergeant."

"Are you immune to the Virus?"

"Last time I checked yeah."

"Report to the me d-bay for analysis then report to the Quartermaster in the command tent for accommodations," I ordered. She walked off as ordered. I couldn't help but notice how peculiarly familiar she looked. A man sprinted up to me.

"SIR! SAFEZONE DELTA IS STILL OPERATIONAL! THEY ARE SENDING US TROOPS, AND ESTABLISHING COMMUNICATIONS!" The Private over enthusiastically said. I simply gave him a brief nod. We now had a known three Safe Zones still operative. If only the government had supplied us with more info surrounding sights like Area-51 I wondered what a carpet bomb would do to a tank. I walked into a Platoon's barracks where a group of soldiers were playing Poker and laughing around the room. When they saw me enter, they stood up and snapped a salute.

"At ease," I ordered, "guess what? You guys are finally gonna get off your arses and work for your living. Your Platoon is to accompany me as we explore a safezone up the river. To be exact, it is Safezone Foxtrot. Report to the Armory at 0900 hours tomorrow for arms." With that I exited the barrack and went back to my quarters. A medical assistant was tapping his foot when I entered.

"Are you the person with the little girl?" He asked. I nodded, he shrugged and was clearly thinking of something, this made a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. He flipped through a clipboard, "Ahh yes, Heather, she is currently in unstable condition, we think she may have contracted a different Virus then the Super Rabies Disease. After thorough observation we realized she has a mutation because of the Virus whether this is fatal or helpful we will tell you in a day or two after more examination." With that he left. The stars now filled the night sky above me. I thought that I should visit the guys who helped me survive Mercy Hospital. As I entered their barrack I found it empty.

"They left for the bar," a raspy voice said nearby. It was Huntlet Jeff who was now able to talk. I thanked him then walked to the bar.

Apparently it was Karaoke Night because when I entered I saw Louis and Francis up on a stage. Louis had taken his shirt off. They began to sing.

"ABCDEFG," Louis sang. Apparently he would sing one part then Francis the other.

"QRTHIandJ…..K," Francis Drunkedly said. Bill who was seated in the audience cried, "This is so Beautiful!" Bill then went back to flirting with a hat post.

"No it's HIJKLMNOP!" Louis replied singing.

"Uhh I don't know this song," Francis denied.

"IT'S EFIN KARAOKE! THE WORDS ARE ON THE SCREEN!" Louis yelled.

"IT'S THE ENGLISH ALPHABET THAT'S THE SONG!" I yelled.

"TRUPIT I just don't know it!" Francis replied.

"One time when I was a mere lad in 1450 I beat dis guy up so badly he wished I di't bet him puh so bagly," Bill told the hanger, "I then drew my knife and shot him. He shud never 'ave takin' my moneys." I was a little disturbed now as Francis hiked up his pants and started doing an Irish jig. I exited the tent much to the depression of the drunks. Once again that woman who I met at the front gates stopped me outside in the cold, winter evening.

"Uhh you seem familiar," I told her. She put a hand on my chest.

"You should remember, we were so close a few months ago," She said soothingly.

"Still, I am clueless."

"We met on a rooftop you me and my colleague."

A guess was forming in my mind, "Who are you?" I asked.

The wind blew through her hair, I now knew who she was, "I….am……"

**Bum bum bum….. well this is the end of the long awaited Chapter 18. I bet you know who this mysterious woman is… This Chapter would have been published earlier if I would have remembered to save my work the first 4 times. Anyway, If your clueless onto who this is, reference the first chapters uhh four I think… Hold your breath as there will be a sequel and this story concludes in three to five more chapters. :D Gordan Freeman knows who this ends. Anyway, I need three reviews saying:**

**Heather must Survive! For her to live. If you want complex clues for the ending PM me, Do an Irish jig, say your ABC's backwards, yell Stalin Approves! Then wait for a week.**

**Once again Thanks to all you people actually reading this including: Gordan-Freeman, DeathSurvivor, HappyStickOfTNT, and uhh uhh that other guy who I can't remember. Basically no matter what you review I am appreciative.**

**Review even if your lazy with one of these.**

**Publish again I want to REEEEAAAD**

**OMG What the heck, publish again I hope this ends well.**

**Ehh at least I read this far**

**I am done reading this piece of trash.**


	19. Author's Notes

AUTHORS NOTES

Wow what has it been a year? Wow how time flies.....Anyway, just wanted to update ya on the situation. I AM typing Chapter 20 is it? Of the story. It will take place in both Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2. It is over 5000 words long :P so when it comes out I promise for a fun read. Well you got this far so you gotta like my writing right? Anyway, I don't know if any of you out there still care about this story so if you could leave a comment and let me know or use one of the ones below that would help me write this faster :P.

**Your story is win now hurry up! We ain't gettin' younger!**

** I read your story to drown out the voices in my head so write faster!**

** Lololololol Mi no hablo ingles :D**

** Here is something I want you to add:**

** If you keep writing I will give you corn so here you go.**

** Ummm I read this far didn't I?**

** I used to like this but now that you stopped I dunno man...**


	20. Chapter 19 12: The Great Panic

**I am sooooo sorry for not publishing so often! I know its been like 16 months since the last update, maybe an especially Looong chapter will make up for it huh? Come onnnnnn we'll be friends again I promise! Fine 5000 words no less. Will that be good enough? Picky.... Oh I didnt say anything.... Anyway we start here in an interview.**

**Chapter 19. (and a half)**

** The Great Panic**

Everyone always calls March 3, 2009 the Governments worst job ever. Of course having lived in something like this you can understand what happened.

On a quiet village somewhere in Africa, a man was bitten by a weird type of viscious animal on his way to the US for a holiday. That night, he turned into some type of weird beast and had started attacking people. The government of Los Angeles, California tried to cover it up, call it more Gang Violence.

**So your saying it wasn't our leaders' fault?**

Hey, I'll get to that part later. At first occurrence with our new foe, the military had little difficulty. There were no Hunters, No Smokers, No Boomers, No Tanks, No Witches. Standard Zombie foe can easily be dispatched as you know. There was one problem, civilians.

**The streets of New York and San Fran are still cluttered with cars and every city inbetween. **

Yes we know. It wasn't as much as Zombies killing you while you slept or were hospitalized or anything. The streets were the largest bloodshed of the war.

**Your refering to the Zombie War?**

No the Civil War what do you think? Anyway, when the news of zombie invasion was leaked, the roads were packed with fleeing civilians. The people who tried to escape in cars had it the worst. Picture this, a large highway cluttered with cars because the road had ONE dead car on it. Some knucklehead who forgot to fill up on gas before they left. Those meat-heads were the main cause for the bloodshed. As the roads were clogged, beeping horns, shouting and sirens cluttered through the air. *Major Franks pauses for a moment then blankly stares off into space* There was nothing we COULD do. More of the US Army's Forces died due to Civil Disobediance that day rather than the infected. The dead swarmed these people as the noises attracted em. A street is the most dangerous zone because, many zombies are still strapped to their seatbelts inside. The only ones who survived were the ones who stayed and bunkered down their homes, found a fortress, or were lucky enough to be the first wave of people outta there.

**Bunkered?**

Yep, as Operation Poseidon is taking effect, we find more and more Civilian Bunkers every day.

**Explain. **

Max Brook's books were a large popular book back then and believe it or not, people used those books as a survival guide. This was good for the first two weeks of the Plague, then it evolved. Simply to put it, Bicycles aren't good escape vehicles when a smoker is behind you.

The Typical House that we found bunkered, had its stairs blown off as well as any ladders or poles or anything. Basically only walls held it up. The people upstairs had Bathtubs filled with Water as well as sinks. We would find Canned Foods as well as in a few cases, windowsill vegetable gardens. The People themselves often carried, Shotguns, Bolt Action Rifles, and handguns where as a few lucky guys managed to have a Semi-Automatic Rifle. They even had melee weapons, most were like Crowbars, Museum Stolen Swords and Spears, and Machete's. I remember one guy had a fully stocked armory. He had 4 M1A1 Carbines, Enough ammo to keep an entire Company well stocked, 200 Grenades which were no doubt stolen, Titanium Crowbars, an Illegal Desert Eagle Side Arm, a bunch of Glocks, and enough food to last him 40 years.

**What happened**

It changed. At first, everything went well, but then, the virus changed man. He was safe as long as normal Infected and Boomers were out there. But Hunters and Tanks? That doomed him man. The zombies were now able to get up there. I pray the guy was in his sleep when they got him.

**Is there anything you would like to a….**

*Franks picks up a radio headset* Oh my God they're coming.

I fumbled for my Side arm as I exited the interview. I gazed onto the horizon and saw the hordes coming.

"Code Echo Niner-Seven all hands man your posts!" I shouted as the screams of the Horde filled the night sky. Images of the first week of the infection replayed in my head after that interview. The largest horde we ever saw was running at us. I chuckled, the poor fools should have been stealthier.

"Launch the M270's drive them to the grave!" I ordered. Massive Missile Trucks rolled into position. M270's are US Army Artillery Vehicles. Picture a green Dump truck with a giant Missile launcher on the back instead of the shovel thing. Missiles shrieked over my head and litterally chunks of Zombies flew over the walls.

A voice announced on the radio "This is Hammer's fist 009 were coming in hot, guns blazing." A moment later, machine gun fire streaked through the air. When I uncovered my eyes, about 4000 dead zombies lie infront of me. (fast forward time)

"Jones, Sanchez, Schmidt, Johnson, Hanson, Jacobs, Myself, Davids, Delgado, and Dickerson, will be deployed at exactly 0900 hours, location: Savannah, Georgia. You all are heroes, you have fought at the epicenter itself here in Pennyslavia. Many of you have seen loved ones perish, seen them change right before you eyes ," I spoke. As I said that the soldier's looked amongst themselves, their morale dropped. Sadness struck these Band of Brothers due to the flood of memories.

"I remember when the first infection had occurred. Do you remember that? In Los Angeles, A man bit someone, they came to Philadelphia, particularly Fairfield for examination there the doctor left the door open, then it infected the hospital. But it was also spreading by itself in the streets below. 'Green Flu' as the Civil Emergency and Defense Agency called it spread like wildfire in the crowded city. Green-Flu or Zombiism as it is called by the Civilians spread by 4 ways: Saliva, Sexually admitted fluids, Blood Transfusions, and Contaminated Water Supply. Pretty much if you weren't Immune, then you were infected. CEDA failed misereably in their tasks and so The Military had to come in and save their asses. Now we go to the South to do what we can to save them over the overrun North. Survivors here, will continue to live normally as we are now. Goodluck, and may God's divine grace be with you," I said, this speech brought a lot of history and memories upon these men. We were going to return to combat tomorrow, Chinook flight down to Savannah. I had exactly 12 hours until the flight. Enough time to get my last good 8 hour sleep, get a last hot meal, grab some weapons and ammunition. Hit the ranges, then ship out. As I walked back to the group of Survivors, Louis, Bill, Francis, Zoey, and all the others who had been my Brothers and Sisters in Arms, I could not help but feel some attachment. Without them I would have never made it past day one and vice-versa. Once I left, Bill would most likely resume command as the other Officers: Myself and Mike were going to leave for Operation: Confederacy in a matter of hours, or as its called by the Younger troopers, Operation:Hick I discouraged such names because we had Savannah natives coming along with us for the journey.

"So...," Zoey started.

"So what?" I asked.

"You are really leaving to do this?" she asked sorrowfully.

"Yeah, it's my duty as a soldier to help the Citizen's of the United States, even the Rednecks." Lets face it, I may be a hypocrite, but at least no southerners were in this group.

"How long will this take, will you ever come back? We can't stay here forever we need a leader like you to deliver us from darkness," Zoey said in a blur.

"My maximum tour of duty is 9 months, but I'll be back for christmas and two weeks inbetween now and July."

"But Christmas is 2 months, I can't wait that long!"

"ssshhh, we can talk about this tomorrow morning, right now, I need to talk to the others in addition to getting my last goodnight's sleep.

"So man, you ain't stayin' no mo'?"

"Yes Louis, its been some mighty, fun, who knows by the time I'm back you may own a Trade Company." This got some laughs from him, we shook hands and I moved on.

"Hate to see ya go should I pack your bags now Major Douche?" Francis said.

"Hate to see you so sober Francis. What's wrong, have a hangover?" I replied. This got a few chuckles.

"No that damn bar isn't open yet so quit yer' laughin'." I gave Bill a salute, which he returned.

"I guess this means your the CO of this base for the next 9 months, don't let them down."

"I will not sir, goodluck," Bill said, we broke salute and walked to our respective tents. I entered. _Well, this is the last time I gotta sleep on this cot. _I thought. I started to absorb the surroundings, drawing mental pictures of what I was to leave behind. The small television, the chairs, the cots with their loose bedding, the cold hard grass floor. The smell of wet leaves. I could hear insects chirping in the background. _This is good, _I thought, _if the bugs are out then the zombies aren't comin' after all, bugs are deathly afraid of zombies, more so then they are of Humans. _I just lie in bed for a while.

I couldn't fall asleep. It was that feeling a soldier dreads the most. It isn't actually in battle itself, but waiting for battle. Not knowing if you'll make it, your friend will, if anyone at all will survive. I was feeling that now. As I stared at the clock, it just kept quietly ticking. The time was 10:13. I just rubbed my thumbs together and hummed _"_Midnight Ride" by the best band known as the Midnight Riders. I eventually felt soothing calm sleep envelope me.

_ BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP! _My alarm screamed at me to get outta bed for the last time. I wiped the eye crust from my eyes and yawned as I sat up straight. It was 6:00 AM. Despite how early it was in the morning, I wasn't really tired. I had less sleep. In Ranger school, I remembered on how you had to sleep in the foxhole you dug for 2 hours at most every night. I looked around the still dark barrack and saw Human forms gently moving up and down. Sleep always made people look younger I thought as I looked into the faces of the other survivors. I walked outside and felt the cold, crisp Pennyslavian air slap me across the face. The wind seemed to be mocking me, as breezes seemed to imitate laughing. _Puff puff puff brrsh bllerr at least I don't have zombies._ The morning sky seemed to say. I then thought of how weird it would be to have zombie wind. As I looked outside, I started to do some morning calisthenics to warm up, I did a few push-ups and crunches and took a quick jog around the camp. I came up and got a quick meal at the mess hall.

"Here is yer' last meal sir!" The Mess Officer spoke. Mess Officer isn't as much of a rank but more of a chore. I ate the scrambled eggs and crispy bacon. I then reported to the armory and grabbed an M4A1, my weapon of choice. I went to the ranges and shut off the lights. I put on my night-vision goggles and turned on the infra-red laser sight and hit the bulls-eye seven times in a row. The infra-red laser can only be seen with NVG's thus giving accuracy, and secrecy. Feeling satisfied I grabbed a 9 Millimeter and walked back up. I steadied my arm and pictured a Hunter at the end of the range where the target was. My hand began sweating and I fired twice. The bullets went through the head and the chest. I then, satisfied with my firearms training went outside. I noticed the cool air again. I gazed around the tent and noticed the 10 soldiers that would be sent on what is likely a suicide mission, begin to stir. While they all awoke, I heard propellers whirling about. I looked in the sky in time to see the Chinook coming to landed on one of the damaged helipads. After it had landed I checked my watch for the time, it was 8:30 AM. I slung one of my many bags on my back. I saw the others in the background they carried sad faces and waved as I boarded my chariot to war. I was prepared physically to fight all of the infected once again the question was, was I prepared mentally? I took a seat in the chopper. The other Brothers in Arms did the same. I sat closest to the Cockpit on the left side. Once all the troops were in, the back hatch of the Chinook slowly closed shut. The helicopter slowly rose into the air.

"This is Hotel Charlie Niner Tree One, are we all clear down there?" The pilot radio asked.

"This is Papa Bear, you are green for insertion!"

"Roger that, Hotel 931 out!"

"Well sit back and enjoy the flight boys! The Stewardess will be by with your nuts in a moment!" I shouted over the roar of the chopper. The helicopter itself seemed alive as it shook and roared at the air.

"Just another day of kickin' ass eh sir?" Jacobs joked.

"Hoo-ah!" Schmidt replied. Lets face it, this chopper was full of cocky Army and Marines who felt they were about to go for a walk in the park. I dozed off for what felt like a second when I was woken up by Michael.

"Franks look, we are over Savannah now," he spoke. I looked out one of the many windows. Damn, it didn't seem like the south did any better then the north did at stopping these zombies. A red light flashed in the cabin and the helicopter was beeping.

"What the hell....." I heard the co-pilot say.

"GET THE HELL OUT YOU ARMY BASTARDS!" A loud booming speaker shouted in addition to many other insults.

"STINGER TAKE EVASIVE ACTION!" one of the Privates had shouted. The Helicopter swerved to avoid being hit. The right row of soldiers struggled to stay in their seats and many ended up being hit by something above them. I then looked out my window and saw a small, firefly sized light coming towards us.

"IT'S COMIN' BACK FER' SECONDS MOVE MOVE!" I shouted.

"She's stalling!" The Pilot shouted terrified. One minute we were just sitting in our seats. Then a horrible thud followed by the sound of metal scraping against metal for a brief second and then a hole where the back hatch used to be.

"We're a losin' her!" The co-pilot shouted. Staff Sergeant Henry Delgado happened to be sitting closest to the breaching point. Poor guy got sucked right out. I could see the horror on his face for one second as the helicopter quickly began to descend to the ground with a column of smoke trailing it. We attached a hook on our harness to the railing above us and held on tight.

"Alright.....Alright, she's stablized..." the pilot acknowledged as we took a climb upwards pressing many soldiers into their seats. Now we already were but nine people of the original ten. Not a favorable number to try and control the masses. The eerie red light began flashing again. The siren blared.

"ANOTHER MISSILE IN THE AIR!"

"WHO THE HELL ARE THEY? THE VIETCONG?" someone shouted. The helicopter took a series of climbs, dives and lurches to try and avoid the missile. There was a _Ffffooooooowwwww _sound as something hissed towards us. A missile slammed into the side of the helicopter, the left side. I saw a curtain of blood spray as the missile hit. One of the guys collapsed over. The Helicopter had had enough. The rear propeller shut off. Then there was this horrible sound as metal twisted and fought with gravity. Gravity won. The helicopter split in half. One man was being suspended in air 40 meters from the ground with nothing but the harness holding him in. It snapped and he plunged and that was the last we saw of him.

"BRACE FOR IMPACT!" The pilot shouted. I saw trees flying past us as we descended rapidly into the middle of a large highway....right towards an overpass. There was a collision, followed by a crack. And I blacked out.

I heard a loud That filled my ears. I could barely hear anything else and it sounded like I was underwater. I heard gunfire. There was a whole bunch of shouting and what sounded of growls. A marine I could not identify was standing over me, shaking me. I slowly opened my eyes and found a scene of battle underway. The marine stood above me saying words I could not understand at the time. When suddenly a tongue shot out from a darkened alleyway. The man disappeared. I took a bunch of deep breaths. I opened my eyes and looked around. All I saw were the shambling undead. No more shots were heard within earshot. I could hear a very faint cracking in the distance. I looked around and saw what appeared to be a little zombiefied midget. His claws were bent downward yet his arms when up. He hunched over and his right hand appeared to have a twitch. He looked around and saw some poor son of a gun trying to sneak past. The midget let out what sounded like a maniacal cackle. The lil' hobbit began running towards the man with amazingly fast speed. Once he got close enough, he leapt. I thought it was just gonna pounce like a hunter, I was wrong. As he landed on the guy, he slid to his back and put his hands on his face. I tried to do something but my body ached so I just watched. The little minion started steering the man around while clawing at his face. It reminded me of Travis the Face Ripping monkey from back in '08. All the while he did this horrible, maniacal laugh. I saw the Jockey riding the Human steer him away out of sight and heard this sound that sounded similar to the roar of a tank but more brought out sorta like OOOOOOWOWWWBBARRRRRAAAAA! Followed by a slam. I closed my eyes and blinked heavily. It seemed as if my body was yelling to my brain _God Damn you! You just hhhaaaddd to pick TODAY to do the mission? The day a bunch of hippies found a stinger didn't you? Well take this!_ My left leg went numb. I reached for my backpack and found nothing. I dug into my pockets and dug out a bottle of Pain Pills. I ate the jug and thought of Louis. They were depending on me back in Pennsylvania. I couldn't die, not here, not after fighting my way through two separate infections. I slowly rose and felt my leg. _Good, at least I still have my trusty M-9. _I looked around and saw that the rider thing had also attracted all the zombies away for the time being. I suddenly heard a large barrage of gunshots and the rider thing die. I collapsed again. The weight of my own body was crushing my legs. They felt like they were solid bricks and no matter how much my brain pushed them, they would not move. My vision was blurred and it seemed like things were moving in opposite directions and in slow motion. I heard the gunshots come closer....and closer....and closer...They seemed to be right on top of me. I sat up leaning against the hull of the now burning Chinook cockpit with my nine millimeter out and could feel my head bleeding. I saw a group of four people approach and had a flashback. It was almost like it was back in Fairfield. I steadied my vision and I came back into focus. I saw two Caucasian men, one appeared to be no more then 23 and the other was in an expensive suit. In addition there was a tubby African man who carried a silenced machine pistol. I held out my pistol with the barrel aimed out away from the group. With my left hand I held my right shoulder and slumped against the hull.

"Theres one of there!" A deep voice said.

"I don't know 'bout ya'll but aint the damn zombies unable to use guns?" a hick asked.

"Yeah and it hasn't ran at us growlin' yet," A feminine voice suggested they walked closer. I struggled to speak. "Tell command......That Lieutenant Colonel Tony Franks needs a medic..." I blacked out.

(change pov)

"HOW MANY OF THESE THINGS ARE THERE?" Sanchez asked as he loaded another clip into his rifle.

"HELLIFIKNOW! Keep Shootin'!" Hanson replied. The rear of the Chopper appeared to be two clicks away from the front. They were already being overrun by the horde. New types to. They couldn't set up a stationary position because some hillbilly lady would come up , spit, and turn the ground into a gooey burning mess.

"IM DRY IM DRY!" Dickerson shouted. He ran back to the rear half and manned the mounted chaingun on the side. They started emptying lead into the horde. This tank like thing, except it had one very short stubby arm appeared on Dickerson's flank. It let out a roar and charged forward, knocking Dickerson off the chaingun. It grabbed him with its large arm and began pummeling him. It gave him an unrelentless pounding as it through him against the metal of the chopper and the concrete cement.

"Sanchez! We gotta get the Hell outta dodge! Get that Humvee online NOW!" Hanson ordered. They had brought along a humvee tied to the Chinook for fast transport. Hanson looked up fast enough to see a Tongue dart out from the darkness. It then began dragging him into the very center of the horde, and into a patch of green, bubbling goo....

(Original POV)

They say that war never changes....However, those who do say that have never had to fight a zombie war. It is brutal. And always remember, for each one of your casualties, they gain another member. You fight an enemy with no fear, no care that there comrades die around them. An enemy that does not rely on vision to fight. An enemy that cannot be killed by simple method. They cannot be captured to be tortured on secret bases. They care not if Civilians die or not. They have no documents, they have no leader that can be kidnapped for ransom. They don't need alarms to signal when a commando team attacks, they are just brainless corpses who still manage to deal tons of damage.

"You think he's gonna be okay?"

"Man, I dunno he sure did take a hellova beating!"

"Youngin' go get me some more of that anti-bacterial spray."

"Okay you tha boss Coach."

"Yeehaw, man that guy took a heck of a beating, something I haven't saw since Ronny's dad got mauled by that gator back in the Arkansas swamps!"

"Uncle Lester, no one is in the mood for your stories so would you pipe up?"

This last quote was followed by the sound of a banjo making contact with a back. My eyes began to slowly peep open. The crackling of dry pus came first followed by heavy blinking. I looked around my surroundings, my head sounded like someone kicked it.

"Ahhh,"I moaned, "Where the hell am I?"

"He hay! Your in Savannah buddy! Or at least, whats left of it now." One of the southerners said. He wore a baseball cap and appeared to be a young man.

"Boy, we didn't think you were gonna make it. M'name's Coach," The tubby black man said.

"I am Lieutenant Colonel Tony Franks of the US Army. Have you seen the rest of my unit?"

"Huh? All we saw were zombies."

"Mmmhmm, I do recall seeing half of a helicopter whirling to Earth on our way here, name's Rochelle by the way." A hillbilly with a banjo slung on his back spoke next. "Well Hooowwwwddaayy! Never thought we'd see an Army bo'ah 'round here!" He had a deep southern accent and sounded like he was from a swamp deep down in Alabama or maybe Arkansas.

"That ovah thar is Nick, he is a huge jackass but when you get to know him, he is even worse," Uncle Lester pointed at the guy in the suit.

"So, what's the plan?" I asked. They all appeared grinning.

"Well, I reckon we're getting' outta here through the CEDA checkpoint at Liberty Mall ain't that right?" The younger hick asked, "Names Ellis by the way but my friends just call me Ell....but I dun like that since Ell sounds like a girls name. . . I suppose you can call me Ell if you want to."

"I need to link up with any of the other survivors of the crash and move from there."

"Not right now you don't because your gonna help us first,"Nick said.

"Oh and why is that?" I asked.

"Because I'm the one holding the Desert Eagle." He looked at Ellis for a second while the D-eagle pointed at me. I grabbed his arm in which the weapon sat and twisted, he yelled in pain and the weapon fell from his clutches which I picked up.

"Now who's got the Desert Eagle?" I asked jokedly.

"Yehee! He served you real gud didn't heh?" Uncle Lester asked. A Tank or what appeared to be a tank except it had one shriveled arm and wore overalls.

"What the hell is that?" I asked.

"That's a charger doyee!" Rochelle kidded.

"What is a Charger? I ain't seen anything like this before."

"A Charger is a big dude who rushes at you and hits you and you both go flying into something like a...like a wall. And then it starts beating you senseless and throwing you inta stuff," Ellis explained. The Charger looked at the group and attempted to blow through the safe house door. Uncle Lester blew it away with a shot to the head with a chrome shotgun.

"He he! This apocalypse sure is gettin' fun!!" Uncle Lester shouted. He wore complete overalls and a straw hat with no shoes. He had a banjo slung on his back.

"Fine, you know what come with us," Nick stated sarcastically, "and while your doin' bring all your army buddies who backstabbed us citizens and left us to our fate!"

"If we left you to your fate why am I here now?" I asked.

"I can tell you where you are gonna be," Nick stated as he pulled out a handgun. I checked and made sure a .50 caliber round was in the chamber, and shot the weapon out of his hand. Nick pulled his hands up and looked like he gave up.

"Alright, if we're headin' to this mall, lets get there before night falls," I suggested. We all waited inside the Safe house door. I grabbed a chrome shotgun from the table. "Lets do this."

(change pov)

"COME ON BABY START....START!!!" Sanchez shouted. The last 4 soldiers in the area continued trying to hold their position as the endless horde continued the attack. The horde kept closing to within 15 meters at times. The crack of rifle fire was loud throughout the area. The smell of gunsmoke filled their nostrils and lungs.

"Requesting Fire Mission, Mortars, Shrapnel, Barrage, Fire Mission GRB Baker Six Tango Bravo niner Yankee eleven Zulu six seven three three!"

"Shot over!" A barrage of light artillery fire came in from another group of national guardsmen nearby. The thuds of the rounds could be heard in the distance. When the explosives hit, everybody ducked because the shrapnel bombs had a large chance of damaging the remaining soldiers because of their proximity. After the barrage, the horde had thinned but they were still coming.

"DAMMIT! NO!" Johnson shouted. His rifle had jammed and was now unable to fire. He kept pulling on the lever to eject the bullet when in the meantime, a Jockey had snuck up on him. It leapt and started riding Johnson in the saddle. As it did so it steered him away directly into the center of the horde.

Michael Hanson struggled as he attempted to pull off the tongue. It stuck like glue and he was unable to do so. A stray round from Dickerson's machine gun before he was beaten off, struck the smoker in the head, and the tongue fell. There was the sound of a car starting.

"WE ARE GOOD TO GO COME ON CLIMB ABOARD!" Sanchez shouted. Hanson slid onto the Mark 19 Grenade Launcher turret. He fired a rapid burst of grenades and the horde dwindled. It wasn't fast enough however and Johnson was mauled. "WE ARE GREEN GET IN!" Sanchez shouted once again. Jones leapt aboard as fast as he could doing a near dive into the open door.

"THATS ALL WE GOT GO GO!" Jones shouted. The Humvee lurched forward and started accelerating at fast speeds.

"Alright....Alright," said Sanchez panting, "What...Is...The...Plan...Sir?"

"Link up with the other crash site, maybe they had better luck then we did," Hanson ordered. And the Humvee began slowing down but still drove at a fast pace.

**Well there ya have it! Exactly 5117 words. I know I know I'm a dipwad for not having updated in like over a year but HOPEFULLY this is the beginning of a new era. An Age Of Freedom! Nah but really, Hope you enjoyed the read and please read and review! ^_^ Also, I do not claim the Left 4 Dead series yada yada yada but I do own each one of the soldiers and Uncle Lester :P.**


	21. Chapter 20: Scrapped

Chapter 20

_I wish things were as they used to be. Back when missions were simple, objectives clear, daily life—not so damn insane. Back when I was with the 72__nd__ were the good days. When I was with a team known only to privileged individuals known as Special Operations and Observations Force SOOF. We were some of the best. There were six of us, myself when I was a Captain, Sergeant Major Roy Wopsle the demolitions man, Specialist Fred Hunter the sniper, Jeff Hughes Number 1 man in the breach team, the medic and only woman on the team Alice "Ally" Fisher, and George Davis the number two man on the breach team. In addition to these five who I presume are now dead, I miss my family. Dad and I were tight, he was a Ranger and had actually participated in Central American campaigns. It was the end of his career when we participated in the operation to remove Manuel Noriega from power. Mom and I didn't see eye to eye a lot, when it came to the other three children, we differed on how parenting should take place and often times even went as far as arguing over it. I was only 14 at the time and in JROTC. She was also in my eyes at the time, a pacifist. I realize now that she was only acting in ways to prevent violence in the household and trying to take good care of us while Dad was off doing who knows what._

**Been quite a bit hasn't it folks? Shiz got busy with my father being deployed and JROTC and what not\**

"Hey, buddy ya'll alright?" Ellis asked.

"Yeah, I'm good, ready to kick some ass?" I asked as I gently caressed the Desert Eagle. I had a strange love for Firearms only dwarfed by History and explosions.

"You betchur saweeeeeet nana sonny!" Uncle Lester shouted. He pulled out a classical double-barreled shotgun. Where it was stowed this whole time sort of bothered me but I pushed the thought out of my mind, after all Rednecks were typically friendly. Nick's eyes continued to bore into me with utmost contempt. His body language and energy screamed secretivity, while at the same time distraction.

We burst through the thick red steel door. As the first zombie came shouting towards me I let loose a shot. The top of his head blew off with hefty chunks of grey matter floating in the air for a brief moment. As our improvised team burst down the street, we moved as a machine and used effective communication. I was overall impressed that a mechanic, a con-man, a reporter, a coach, and a gator wrestler (or something) were calling out small tasks such as reloads and telling eachother to stack up on doors. We walked down the road dealing lead to any infected individual within a 30 yard radius. Eventually, we came upon a warehouse. As we burst in the door, a Savanna Police Officer lay in the corner. He was bleeding severely and his eyes were still wide with terror. He had a Colt .45 lying at his side with 3 of the 8 bullets in the magazine still remaining. I checked for a pulse. Surprisingly he still had one meaning he was alive. There was a large gash in his chest and several bite marks around his shin. It seems whatever was here had not left.

"He's still alive!" Rochelle shouted.

"Oh goody, let's add one more mouth to feed to our people collection!" Nick sarcastically argued.

"Guys, I'm keeping this guy alive like it or not, throw me my First-Aid," I commanded. Coach gave a hearty toss and it hit me in the shoulder. I grabbed my canteen of water I had with me and poured it into the foot-long slice in his abdomen. His eye twitched.

"Hey! Ya'll, we better bunker down, it is startin' to rain," Ellis stated.

"Form a perimeter and block the stairs and door we just used, I got stick with this guy," I barked, the others went to their tasks. After washing the wound, and being a little surprised when a claw fragment floated out. I grabbed the bottle of disinfecting solution. I dabbed it onto the cut with a cotton ball gently. He began wincing in pain. "Hey buddy, you with me?" I snapped my fingers and grabbed a nearby laser pointer and flashed it into his eyes. His pupils followed the light with rapt attention. "You are gonna be juuussst fine, you need to stay with me though and I will get you through this pal!" I checked his forehead, he was running a fever. I took some pills from my First-Aid kit, _pills, Louis would probably love these. I wish I could get back there, see them again. I belong there. _Various thoughts burst into my head. As he graciously downed the pills with a sip from my canteen I took his pulse. His pulse was a stead 97 beats a minute, he was probably nervous with all that was going on and his rapidly moving and expanded pupils only further proved it.

Suddenly, there was a growl in the room. I dragged the Police Officer whose last name was Sanchez over to a corner of the room next to a heating vent. I brandished my hand gun and swept the room with glances. "Hello?" I called out. The room was excessively dark right now and I did not like this _At all_. I called out again with the same results. I was alone in the dark, with God knows what lurking around. I put my in one hand my knife while at the same time I rested my other hand on top of it brandishing my firearm, regardless of what was out there, I was going to give it hell if it decided to head this way. There was another roar in the darkness. I looked into a corner. My heart was pounding, normally the infected had charged by now. I was ready to blow the head off of whatever the thing was. There was a yet a third roar, this one sounded like a dying turkey mixed with a bad bugle player. I dark figure darted towards me from across the room. I fired a round into its head with a comforting bang. It fell over.

I was confident it was over. That was a bit unnecessary for a single dude. As I stood there I got a good look at it. It was an Ostrich or Emu or something I don't know my big birds. However, upon inspection of the skull I realized the bullet had only dented the skull of the thing and the body lacked claws. _How the hell does a fifty caliber round just slide off a dang bird? _ I was a bit unnerved by this.

Next thing I knew I was on the ground. There was a Human shriek in the darkness with several growls and snarls. I was around a corner so I beamed my flashlight towards the hallway where I had last left Sanchez. There was a great deal of screaming and blood splattered on the to the left of where he had been. All of the sudden, there was eerie silence. The screams subsided and the growls stifled. I started to rise again. There was a growl once again. The type you hear from an angry dog but about 400 times deeper than that of a German Shepherd. I saw a pair of fangs brandish in the darkness. _Oh shit…_ I just about crapped my pants. I scrambled to the doorway which was just at the end of the hallway. I struggled to open the door. _WHAT DO YOU MEAN LOCKED? WHO THE FUCK LOCKS A DOOR IN AN APOCALYPSE! _My very own thoughts began to grow hectic. My Fear shifted my thinking and energy towards one thought: escape. I saw a window, I had no clue how high up I was but I dove through it.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. I stood up and realized that the window was on the ground level thankfully. I brushed myself off and in doing so knocked something loose. My PRC-1480! I don't recall ever having the handheld radio on me but then again, I didn't remember anything but a splitting migraine. I dialed to the base's frequency.

"Firebase Charlie this is LTC Franks, Operation: Confederacy is a complete failure, massive casualties across the board, I need an evac immediately, as far as I know I am the only survivor, both choppers are down and as far as I know, the real intent for this mission is gone with the wind."

"Affirmative Franks, this is Firebase Charlie, bummer about the operation. UH-60 Evac is inbound ETA one hour, hang tight over." I spat at the ground in a mixture of disgust and anger. This was a total failure, and the whole thing a big let down, at least I would be going home.

**Well that's about it folks. Those of you new to the book welcome aboard, I got plenty of win for all of you. Veterans as I now refer to those who read this before the great STOP ya'll are now given Oracle Status. Basically, your reviews have a lot of effect in the story. I am also offering my reviewers a chance to submit their characters with description in a review, however, they must also include a review of this current chapter and all characters are judged in the end by moi. Thankee for reading and hopefully in the powers of Bob Saget, Fred the Great (8 foot tall man-bear-pig like marmoset), and Chuck Norris, this story continues, things have been busy and all but anyway review por fevor! Or use a cheapo review.**

**I'll like the story and particularly fantasize about it's fantasys.**

**This Story is pretty dag-gum epic and continue righting**

**Meh**

**You shame Bob Saget**

**Delete this story and go cry in a corner**


End file.
